


Japanese Class

by YanaEffect



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Friendship, Japanese Character(s), M/M, Slow Burn, teacher!Itachi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:42:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 72,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23214967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YanaEffect/pseuds/YanaEffect
Summary: The Japanese class he half-heartedly chose will teach Naruto that everything's not always what they seem. Learning a new language is just a drop in the ocean compared to how much his life changes.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 166
Kudos: 155





	1. The beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I have been working on this fic for a while now and thought it was a good time to post it. It's a high-school AU, because it's not like we have a billion of those, right? xD For the sake of the story, we're just gonna pretend that the names of the characters aren't Japanese except for a few... because that's the only way this could work. 
> 
> We're going through a very tough time as the human race, and I hope everyone's safe. Please try not to go outside and take the situation seriously, I'm sure everyone knows what they should be doing by now <3 
> 
> Thank you to my wonderful beta for being so supportive! You can check out her fics under the pen name Indelible_Faith! :)

September had crept in after the lengthy Summer break, bringing occasional rain, gloom, and a new semester for students. One of the said students, Naruto, was mindful that he should have been more responsible as this was already his third year as a high-school student, but in contrast, was very likely late for the first period.

His vacation-tuned sleep schedule had not allowed him to go to bed at a decent time. The weather was perfectly clear, the temperature just right to be outside. It was unfortunate that he did not have time to bike. While he rode on the bus, his mind was freshly starting to wake up. He gave a little flinch when his phone chimed in his hand. The notification sound was way too high for this time of the morning. He put it in vibration mode.

_Twitter -“new semester, new me! anyone takin’ spanish btw? dm me.”_

Spanish?

They were supposed to be taking Japanese. Not Spanish. Kiba had begged and begged through the entire break.

When he rushed to the school lawn through the front door, nobody was around. The grass was freshly watered, wetting the sole of his sneakers. There were some birds hopping around before the front entrance to the building, and they flew off when he opened the door.

Walking through the quiet corridors, he climbed the stairs to reach the locker room on the second floor. Faint voices were coming from the classrooms. With practiced ease, he opened his designated locker and put his bag in after he pulled out some necessities. His phone buzzed again, on the stalls. It was a text this time, from Kiba, filled with emoticons. “ _Nards! Where are u?_ ”

He replied. “ _on my way to Japanese. You in Spanish? I thought we were taking Japanese together_.”

As he checked the bulletin board for any new information, another text came in, some apologies and an _I’ll explain later_.

His stomach sank, leaving him dizzy. He was not sure what to think about that. After pestering Naruto all summer about how it was a great opportunity for them, and it would be _so great_ to learn Japanese. Now he was in Spanish, most likely along with his girlfriend, and Naruto was all alone. They had played Guitar Hero together at Kiba’s room two days ago, and even then Kiba had kept quiet about the matter. Was there something… fishy going on? Was he left out on purpose? A bad joke? Or was it just Kiba being too preoccupied with others and forgetting about Naruto for the hundredth time?

Sighing, he closed his eyes for a moment. None of the people in his close circle of friends took Japanese as far as he knew.

Before class, he headed for the men's room, feeling a little irked when he saw his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot, and the orange t-shirt he wore did not really lift his moods up. It was all creased and looked funny. His brows were furrowed as he splashed some water on his face.

This year was supposed to be fun, and Naruto was supposed to enjoy every class he took as a junior. That was the promise he had made with himself after the Chemistry disaster the previous year. He knew his limits, his abilities. There were some things he was not good at, and he had come to terms with that long ago. Sulking didn’t do him any good, so focusing on his strong points and making them better was his priority. He wasn’t sure if language-learning was something he would be good at, but it certainly would have been fun to do it together with Kiba even if he didn’t master it. He wouldn’t suffer as much.

He had no idea who the teacher for Spanish was, but apparently, neither did Kiba. More importantly, who would be teaching Japanese? The first image that came to Naruto’s mind was a short, middle-aged who barely spoke English, and bowed down a lot when he made a mistake with words.

Well, he would find out in a short while. Before he headed back, he tried to fix his hair and put it into decent shape, eyed himself in the mirror and hoped nobody would notice how wiped out he looked.

By the time he looked up the classroom number and found it, he was already ten-something minutes late. In his defense, the classroom they had assigned Japanese for was infamous for its small size, typically used for Advanced Placement classes nobody bothered to take, and its whereabouts was certainly not easy to remember, or to find. 

He calmly knocked before opening the door. He was met by dark, impatient eyes on the other side.

“Itachi?” Naruto muttered in confusion, sounding more like he needed validation that he got the man’s name correct. Feeling his confidence shrink only made him feel worse. “Sorry, I think I’m in the wrong room.”

“No, you’re not. Come in.”

“I’m supposed to be--”

“This _is_ Japanese. Take a seat, Naruto.” The man urged. “You’re lucky. We were about to get started without you.”

Itachi was the Physics teacher in his freshman year, one of the few teachers in the school that actually cared about teaching. Naruto admitted being captivated by how much of a gentleman Itachi was outside the class (he could get genuinely intimidating if his class was interrupted, but he was generally okay), and he was quite knowledgeable despite his young age. It was true that being late to his class ticked him off, or a few other things. As long as you stuck to the rules, you were safe.

Still, he was not expecting to see him in Japanese. He strolled inside the classroom after shutting the door, and was immediately surprised at how small the room turned out to be. He remembered it to be wider. His bedroom was about the same size – it made no sense.

There were numerous unoccupied seats that stood way too close to each other. He sat at the very back and dropped his things on the desk.

“Now that we’re all here, why don’t we introduce ourselves first? I’ll start,” Itachi said. He looked stylish in his posh-looking navy blue shirt, which fitted his frame just right. His hair was in a loose ponytail, and he had the notorious wire-rimmed glasses on that had made a few girls faint in delight according to a rumor. Bingo. No wonder the female population in his classes was always high. Japanese was an exception, it seemed-- why was he in Japanese again? 

“I think we’ve all seen each other before, but no harm in continuing an old custom. I’m Itachi. Normally I teach Physics, and sometimes substitute for Math when Kakashi is on leave. Which happens more often than you’d think.” 

Someone at the left-hand side sneered.

“I’m gonna be teaching this class because no other teacher speaks Japanese in the school. They’re outsourcing for a proper teacher, so I’m substituting until they find someone else, really.” He grabbed a paper from his desk and looked at it through his glasses. “Hm. There are only fifteen names here. I was told that they anticipated about forty.”

“Did they really think people would prefer Japanese over Spanish?” 

“Hm. Who knows,” Itachi replied, “What do you think, Shikamaru?”

Ah. Shikamaru, one of the elite boys of the school. State chess championship, three years in a row. “I thought they would cancel it and send us all to German. I’m sort of surprised we’re still here.” He leaned back, crossing his legs.

“Quite frankly, me too. Thanks for the input.” He took a look around and started to roll his sleeves up. “Will wonders ever cease?”

Shikamaru raised a brow. “Isn’t that exaggerating a little bit?”

“I was talking about Uzumaki. How come you’re here alone? Where’s your other half?”

Naruto scoffed. He did have the common sense to not challenge Itachi, though. “I’ve been ditched.”

“Ah. That’s heartbreaking to hear,” he said, half teasing and half sorry. “But maybe you can focus on learning a new language now instead of playing SOS with Inuzuka. Doesn’t sound that bad, does it?”

“I guess,” he shrugged. “I’m just a little upset.”

“I understand.” He reassuringly nodded. “Now, if the basics are out of the way, it’s your turn to introduce yourselves. Say your names too, so everyone knows each other. Why don’t you go first, Naruto?” His eyes roamed around, measuring the students with practiced ease. “I want you all to share with us why you decided to choose Japanese. Maybe if you have any dreams regarding the language. Anything you have to say, really.”

He straightened his posture a little, feeling a few more sets of eyes on himself. “Uh. It’s just because Kiba said it would be useful in the future, sort of,” he muttered, feeling like an idiot, because he had not really thought about it before. Perhaps it was a mistake that he had jumped into this without giving it a proper thought. He was convinced he had learned his lesson this time, comprehensively.

Itachi took off his glasses, nodding. “You have any thoughts about Japan?”

“…I used to watch anime when I was a kid. That’s all.”

“Wonderful. What about the language?”

“I don’t know. The anime was dubbed. But I once watched a scene on YouTube. Not that I understood anything, but I guess Japanese sounded…” he scratched his head, feeling encouraged to speak more when Itachi softly kept nodding. “Like poetry. Or rap.”

“Great. That’s a good point, Japanese has a unique sound, and a rhythm. Some say it’s like a lullaby. It’s soft, and the intonation is completely different from English, so it will be like an adventure. Next.” He seemed well-informed about the language.

“I’m Shino. I want to learn Japanese and earn a scholarship in Japan.”

The reply seemed to have delighted Itachi. “Amazing. What do you want to study?”

“Bugs.”

Itachi laughed a little, shaking his head. “I should have known. Just keep the lids of your jars closed during the class. Together, we should work hard. You have my full support.”

Hugging his black backpack, which was so full that it seemed about to burst at the seams, he nodded, mumbling a thank you under his breath.

“My great-grandmother is Japanese,” The red-haired boy spoke up, coming out as someone who was ready to pass his turn to the next student. Much to his dismay, in a class of only fifteen students and a perpetually curious teacher, that was out of the question.

“Can you remind me of your name?” 

“It’s Gaara.”

“Right. You didn’t speak much in Physics. I hope we can change that here.” He checked the paper again, eyes squinted. “Sabaku? Hmm. I remember your sister. Quite the troublemaker she was. How is she now?”

“Good. She’ll graduate college this year.” Naruto often noticed how expressionless Gaara’s face was. They had taken a couple of classes together, and even partnered together for a lab experiment once. The only time he saw Gaara laugh was when Kakashi had thrown a temper tantrum over a wrong answer. The situation had been pretty awkward for the rest of them, but Gaara had enjoyed it somehow.

“Very good. Do you have any other reasons? Do you have any interest in Japan?”

Gaara blinked. His face was blank. “I like Japanese horror movies.”

“A good enough excuse to learn a language,” he approved.

“I didn’t know you spoke Japanese,” Gaara mentioned lastly.

Itachi grabbed a red board marker and started writing something completely in Japanese on the whiteboard. When he was done, he turned around and tapped under the writing. “This is how you write Itachi Uchiha in Japanese. Contrary to popular belief, I was born in Japan. My family moved here when I was eight.”

Shino hummed to himself in thought, as if trying to come up with something deep. “I thought you were born here,” he said in the end. 

“It doesn’t come as a surprise to me, honestly. One of the common things people assume. The students tend to be very creative when it comes to gossip,” Itachi said, as if he was aware of every single rumor around.

“You’re actually Japanese?” Naruto cut in, shocked as much as anyone in the classroom. “Like, first-generation?”

“Basically. I’m not hundred percent sure about the terminology, as someone once called me 1.5 generation, but that’s the gist of it. Anyway.”

The rest of the students explained their reasons: there were a few ones that had Japanese ancestors like Gaara, and some of them claimed they could understand a little bit while the majority were clueless about the language. After the last person to speak finished, silence took over.

Naruto had not noticed, but there was one more person in the front, right next to the window. The color of his hair and sweater did not make much contrast with the dark red curtain, and he had been completely silent until then. However, the figure was easy to recognize with his distinctive style, and Naruto exhaled loudly, ignoring the puzzled reaction coming from Shino’s direction. Sasuke, and Itachi, in a class together. That was going to be a hassle, something they had undergone several times before. Sasuke loved to meddle in and cause unresolvable trouble in Itachi’s classes in his own wicked way.

Naruto didn’t have any personal grudges against Sasuke. From the first week of high school, he had presumed they lived in two different worlds and there had never been a necessity for them to talk to each other anyway. It was hard not to know who he was, though, with him being Itachi’s brother and having a characteristic look to him that many found compelling. Apart from that, both had always acted like the other didn’t exist.

Cleaning his throat casually, the boy spoke. “Sasuke. I’m expected to have an interest in Japanese, so I’m here.” It was a hushed, but resolute voice. The sound reached Naruto’s ears with ease, yet, he felt like it was a ghost speaking. Sasuke loved to speak up. Why keep quiet now when all attention was on him? 

“Least passionate member of our small community. Why is that, Sasuke?”

“I don’t think passion has anything to do with this class.”

Itachi pressed his lips together, as if meticulously calculating his next move. 

Naruto puffed out some air again. If Sasuke was going to ruin the atmosphere, he should just leave. Take French or Spanish or something. As someone with Japanese parents, and also a brother who spoke the language, wasn’t Sasuke supposed to be at least understanding basic Japanese anyway? It appeared that he didn’t, though, taking a beginner-level class and all. 

“It’s part of my duty as a teacher to learn about my students. I’m sure your classmates are also curious about why you’re here.”

Biting his lower lip, Naruto rolled his eyes, taking out his phone and typing a text to Kiba just like he always did when something noteworthy (or not) happened. “ _sasuke’s ruinin the mood here_.” Before pressing the send button, however, he deleted it. There was another text sent to him by Karin. He pushed his phone back in his pocket without reading it.

When his attention was back on the class, Itachi was still inquiring. “Speaking a foreign language can open so many doors for you.”

Sasuke made a sound, a pretty annoying one at that. “Can we move on.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. Itachi’s expression had hardened a little, but he didn’t press it anymore, merely grabbing a board marker again, this time a black one. His back was turned as he wrote something on the board. The letters were familiar this time, but it still looked like gibberish.

Sasuke had gotten on his nerves. And clearly, he wasn’t the only one weirded out by the exchange between the brothers. He decided to give it a shot and make a remark. Just to test the waters. “It wouldn’t kill you to share more, y’know.”

Sasuke turned his head around sharply. He looked standoffish as usual, but not irritated in the slightest. “Nobody asked for your opinion.”

Itachi cut in, completely ignoring the little argument. “I didn’t prepare any material for today since I found out I’d be teaching this about two hours ago, but I’ll email each one of you the things you need to study for next week. Now, just a brief summary so you don’t get confused when you open the documents.” He pointed at the first word. “Hiragana. This is the Japanese alphabet. You absolutely need to know how to read hiragana in order to read Japanese.”

“We’re screwed,” someone whispered toward Naruto. 

“No, it’s easy to learn. At least that’s what I’ve heard from other people. I don’t have a personal opinion because I learned it in school. In fact they say if you try hard enough, you’ll know it by next week. A good opportunity for you to test your limits, if you’d like.”

Naruto made a face. “Ha?”

“Let me explain first,’ Itachi put a finger up. He moved on to the word under _hiragana_. “Katakana is also a Japanese alphabet, but it’s mainly used for loan words. Modern usage allows original Japanese words to be written in katakana for emphasis, or out of laziness. But that’s rare. Take notes if you want, we won’t review these next week.”

Shikamaru put down his pen, already done with copying the board to his notebook. “Loan words? Like?”

“Hmm. A common example would be _konbini_ ,” Itachi explained in thought. “It’s short for convenience store, but you don’t really hear people say _konbiniensu sutoa._ A simpler example is _tomato_ . For tomato, obviously.” He quickly scribbled the word on the board. “Words are not always borrowed from English, though. _Arubaito_ means part-time job, and it comes from German. Very common word.”

It sounded reasonable enough, but Naruto didn’t feel like he would be remembering any of them. Maybe tomato. 

As if reading his mind, Itachi added, “You don’t need to know these now. Just focus on learning these two alphabets.”

“I have a question,” Naruto raised a hand. 

“Yes?”

“It’s not exactly a question, but. Your name seems super complicated compared to the other words you wrote.”

“That’s because I wrote my name in _kanji_ ,” he clarified, adding the word under hiragana and katakana. “Now, that’s a whole different alphabet, and it’s basically a nightmare for a beginner, but don’t worry, we’ll take it easy.”

Shikamaru propped his elbow up on the desk and put his chin in his palm. “You’d think two alphabets would be more than enough.”

Itachi smiled. “A popular opinion. I would love to agree, but sadly I can’t. It’s nothing but trouble to read Japanese without kanji. I imagine it’s sort of hard to wrap your head around the concept, but I’ll try to simplify why it’s wrong.” He started drawing some shapes - Naruto guessed those were the hiragana stuff he was talking about, and wrote _kokoro_ under them. “This is the hiragana for kokoro, which means heart.” Then, he drew another shape. “And this is the kanji. Borrowed from the Chinese alphabet. They mean the exact same thing, and your brain will immediately acknowledge the kanji once you know it, so you won’t have to read the hiragana one by one. Cool, huh?”

“We’re really screwed.”

“Chouji. Stooop.” Shikamaru scolded his friend jokingly, who sat right next to him and looked as terrified as one could be from a class. “So it’s entirely out of laziness? I had a different impression of the Japanese people.”

“There’s a more important justification, actually. Homonymous words will haunt you if you don’t know kanji. _Hashi_ could mean bridge, or chopsticks. _Ame_ could mean rain or sweets. There are slight differences in the way you say them - something called pitch accent, but it’s an advanced topic. So you’re going to have to be dependent mostly on kanji until you get to that level.”

Naruto blinked. His head was empty already, the words had gone in from one ear and out the other. He couldn’t be the only one puzzled. He imagined strangling Kiba with his bare hands for making him suffer alone, with Hinata watching over from the side. How gratifying would that be?

“The marks will depend mostly on your class participation, just so you know.”

“We’re not gonna have a test?”

Itachi dropped the markers and sat down in his designated chair, biting a nail as he thought briefly. When he came up with something, he reached to his glasses for the second time, writing down something in his notebook as he spoke. “I’m considering small quizzes, but I think class participation is more valuable than a test. Until they find another teacher, at least, we’ll do it this way. Also, the second half of the class on Thursday will be a reading session. You’ll never get better at reading another alphabet if you don’t practice.”

“I object.” It was Sasuke again.

Itachi didn’t even bother to look up. “To what?”

“Reading out loud. It’s a waste of time.”

“Let me know if you have a better idea.”

Was Sasuke doing it on purpose? Maybe they’d had a fight earlier. It was childish, and truthfully, beneath him to object to something Itachi found useful for the class.

A few moments were skipped in silence and when Itachi was done with his task, he checked the clock on the wall. “If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”

Naruto eyed the others. They all seemed indifferent.

“I’ll see you all later.”

Grabbing their notebooks and pencils, the pupils in the front row started exiting the classroom. Naruto remained seated until the population inside the room was down to half.

“Hey, Nards.”

It was Chouji. His wild, brown hair stuck out from all possible directions, but he still managed to make it cool, and he was hunched forward slightly, most likely due to his weight.

Naruto raised his hand. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Didn’t expect to see you here. Where’s Kiba?”

He bit his tongue and tried not to sound too upset. “He changed to Spanish. It’s just me.”

Chouji nodded. “Huh.”

“Japanese seems intimidating, yeah? But it looks fun.” He stood up. At this point, he was making up excuses to feel better, really.

“Hmm. I’m here ‘cause Shika is here. I’d rather take German.” He took a gulp from the detox water bottle he held. Chouji was on a diet six months of the year, and spent the other six eating. “So, what are you gonna do now?”

“Just enjoy the ride, I guess,” he laughed lightly, realizing the classroom had been emptied with the exception of the two of them, Shikamaru, and Itachi. Shikamaru looked restless as he continuously tapped the screen of his smartphone, waiting for Chouji to be done with his banter. 

“No, I mean right now. We’re off to the cafeteria. Wanna tag along?”

“Oh. Maybe next time, I need to get something sorted out,” he patted Chouji’s shoulder. “See you around.”

“‘Kay then. Bye,” Chouji responded, walking away. Naruto also waved goodbye to Shikamaru, who waved back, hand off the screen only for a mere second.

They left, and Naruto made his way to the teacher’s desk. Until Itachi was done with his notes, he waited uncomplainingly, watching the paper from the corner of his eye. Itachi was taking individual notes about everyone. 

When he finally looked up, Naruto saw the dark circles under his eyes that weren’t visible from a distance. “What can I do for you?”

“Uhh. I just wanted to consult with you about something.”

“I’m all ears.”

He let out a sigh. Staring at the board, he asked, “It might sound a little weird, but do you really think I can learn how to read these?” 

When he looked back at Itachi, the skin between his brows were furrowed. “Why not?”

“I’ve had a lot of trouble learning how to read in first grade. I just don’t wanna be a bother to you here.”

“You’re not a bother, Naruto,” he shook his head, and clamped his hands together in thought. “You can do anything if you try hard enough. Language learning process is more difficult than most people imagine, but it’s not impossible. I remember being panicked when I first moved here. I didn’t speak a word of English.”

Naruto couldn’t help but ask more. “No? How did you learn it?”

“It wasn’t easy.” He took a moment to think. “I couldn’t communicate with my peers. I couldn’t do my homework. I asked my mother to buy me books in English, watched cartoons fully in English, even though I didn’t understand anything. Exposure helps more than you imagine.”

Pinching the fabric of his jeans, Naruto slowly shook his head. “Doesn’t sound that bad. I thought maybe you’d tell me to find a way to change to another class.”

“Hm. You don’t get to do that for language classes this year, as far as I know,” Itachi made clear. “You’re stuck with me until they find someone. This is a beginner’s class anyway. Just study and you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks, Itachi,” he smiled. Unconsciously, he found himself glancing at the seat Sasuke had been sitting in earlier.

“Something interesting there?”

“No. Um. I was just wonderin’ why Sasuke was so moody,” he confessed, not knowing what sort of reaction Itachi would give, but the man stayed silent, so he continued. “Heh. It sucks that we can’t drop classes.”

“Sasuke wouldn’t.” No further explanation came, as expected. No matter how good they got along, Itachi was a teacher, and Naruto was a student. Discussing another student with Naruto would be unethical, and unfair.

“Mhm. ‘kay. I’ll be off, then. Glad you’re the teacher, by the way.” he stated.

Itachi chuckled whole-heartedly. He seemed pleased with the compliment. “Thank you. See you Thursday.” 

* * *

They were all gathered at a picnic table during the lunch break. Naruto sat with Karin, Kiba and Hinata were squished together across them as usual. Lee was standing up, downing a protein shake, and the remaining seats were occupied by Sakura and Neji.

For the fifth time, Kiba swore. “Fuck. Spanish can suck my balls. Shit.”

Hinata was rubbing his arm, not looking so good herself. Lee seemed uninterested in the topic, and Karin was ready to punch Kiba in the face. 

“French was pretty decent, but the teacher's old,” Neji commented. 

Kiba narrowed his eyes. “How old?”

“Maybe sixty? Not sure.”

“I think she’s older than sixty,” Sakura added after swallowing her bite. “She’s a nice lady. Her name is Clara.”

“What a pretty name!” Karin said cheerfully. Sakura agreed to it. 

Kiba stuck out his tongue. “She should bring her friend Heidi along.” Only Lee laughed, and they bumped their fists together. “Oi! Who’s teaching Japanese, Nards?”

“Itachi,” Naruto shortly answered. He felt snappish.

Kiba still hadn’t apologized properly. In fact, he looked completely oblivious to Naruto’s irritation, and even had the nerve to say something along the lines of “I wish I hadn’t changed my mind.” He still suspected Kiba had done it out of grudge or something, but the chances were pretty low, because Kiba’s personality was not like that. He was straightforward. But, one thing he was, he was purely ignorant – especially since he had started going out with Hinata. How come that had happened, he was not sure. But Sakura often associated Kiba with a new-born puppy, following its mother wherever, and it was alarmingly on point.

“You’re joking!” Sakura suddenly cried out. She looked seriously bummed by the information, being one of the grand fans of Itachi – as a teacher, though. Her personal interest was on the younger brother for a long time. “What a clever man. No wonder he speaks Japanese.” Suddenly, her eyes enlarged. “I should change to Japanese.”

Naruto cracked a knuckle. “I don’t think they allow you to drop language classes.”

Sakura put down her sandwich in disappointment. 

Kiba put an arm around Hinata, and she leaned her head against his shoulder. “Sorry I said we should go for Spanish. I didn’t know so many people were going to be there.”

“No, baby. It’s just bad luck,” Kiba squeezed her. “ _Ti Amo_.” So, it was Hinata who had suggested… He wasn’t surprised. He could have used a heads up, though. How difficult would it be to shoot a text? Or say it while they were together? It would take, like, two seconds. So, why?

“It’s _Te Amo_ ,” Lee interrupted. He was looking at something across the yard, at the very end of the line of picnic tables. “What is Kakashi doing?”

Karin turned around in curiosity. “Where? Where?”

Lee looked suspicious. “With Iruka. There. Something fishy’s going on.”

Certainly, two men looked peculiar sharing a lunchbox. 

“They’re roommates. Maybe one of them forgot to cook or something,” Neji said, unable to hide his revulsion. “It’s natural.”

Karin snickered. “Do you believe that yourself? They look super gay to me.”

Naruto nudged his cousin. “Iruka has a girlfriend.”

“Kakashi doesn’t.”

“You don’t know that!” His index finger was tracing lines along the wooden table. 

Something brushed against his ankle all of a sudden, and he jumped in terror, nearly tumbling down in the process. Karin was not so lucky as she was elbowed again, this time, much harder. Karin’s cry of pain and Naruto’s profanities were mixed together and built a chaotic ambiance.

“Excuse me, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Jesus!” He yelled, knees drawn to his chest. “What the fuck?!”

It was Shino. He was on his knees, a jar in his hand. He stood up and brushed his knees clean as he spoke. “My bad. I was reaching for the leather jacket under the table.”

Karin looked under the table. “There’s a leather jacket here? Where? Is it yours?”

“It’s a larva,” clarified Shino. He had sunglasses on, making it impossible for Naruto to see his expression. “Huh. That’s weird.”

“ _You’re_ weird, Shino,” Naruto protested. He had already given up on wishing that the events of the day would take a turn for the better, for today apparently had been cursed from the beginning.

“No, your face. Sasuke had the exact same face on when you told him to shut up.”

“I didn’t tell him to--”

“Sorry again. Bye.”

Shino had already walked away, though, and Naruto was greeted by questioning eyes when he turned back around. 

“Why would you tell Sasuke to shut up?” Sakura asked away before Karin could start complaining about her arm.

Naruto licked his lips. “I didn’t. He made that up.”

“Really?”

“You’re not his attorney, Sakura. Chill,” Neji said. “Why do you care what Naruto told Sasuke?”

“Yeah, but--”

“Sakura. Drop it,” Kiba groaned. “It's the first day of school. I wanna talk about somethin’ fun.”

Hinata put a hand on Sakura’s as support.

Before someone else said anything, Naruto abruptly spoke up. “Actually, I forgot my notebook in the classroom. I better get it before it gets thieved.” It was unmistakably a lie.

“There’s still twenty-five minutes until next period,” Karin retorted. Naruto was already on his feet, though.

“It’s fine. The janitor probably locked the class anyway, I need to find him first.”

“If you say so.”

“Bye then,” he said, apologetically touching Karin on the shoulder before walking off with hands in his pockets, clenched into fists.

* * *

It was only when his phone buzzed Naruto realized that he had been dozing off. It was almost impossible not to, not when Kakashi had given everyone boring assignments that would be over within ten minutes at most. He had put on some calming music to drown out the whisperings of others, and that had somehow functioned as a lullaby. He pulled out his earphones and drowsily looked around: Tenten was gingerly writing the correct answers on the board while everyone else - including Kakashi - was doing something else. Shikamaru was soundly sleeping, Gaara was watching out the window, Sakura and Hinata were reading a fashion magazine together. He remembered to check his phone when it gave another buzz. He had two new emails titled “Japanese Class.”

“Very good, Tenten,” Kakashi said every once in a while through his surgical mask, not bothering to look up from his comic book. He claimed that it was to protect himself from the new Coronavirus, but the majority of the class doubted that since Kakashi always had an aura that suggested he craved death.

The door opened quietly, and the P.E. teacher stuck his head inside. “Kakashi, my good friend! Can I borrow Lee for a while? It’s about the basketball team.”

“Yes, yes, of course. Off you go, Lee,” Kakashi waved the enthusiastic boy off. “Anyone else in the basketball team?”

“I was thinking of joining,” Chouji said. “Can I?”

“Not at the moment. Sorry,” Gai grinned, his single gold-plated tooth beaming as the sunlight reflected.

“Go join them,” Kakashi gestured to Chouji to leave the classroom. “Gai likes to be begged.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Wait. That sounded inappropriate.”

“Are we gonna do actual work today?” Shikamaru spoke up after Chouji left.

“I don’t know. Are we? Nobody seems interested. I was thinking we could start tomorrow.”

Naruto looked at Shikamaru. “He wants us to suffer before the tests.”

“I don’t want anyone to suffer. And that includes me. So we won’t have math tests this year.”

Karin shrieked. “Really?”

“No.”

Naruto almost doubled over in laughter when he saw his cousin turning a bright red, insulted and disappointed. 

“You can sit down, Tenten, thank you,” he announced, standing up and studying the neatly written answers on the board. “If you couldn’t solve the problems on the papers I’ve given you, forget about college.”

Someone in one of the back seats cleared their throat.

“If you were excited like Karin about not having tests, forget about college.”

Karin rolled her eyes dramatically.

“But I have reasons to believe each one of you has enough IQ points, so I’ll actually make an effort to teach you. I want you all to score high when the time comes, so on top of the regular tests,” he winked at Karin, “We’ll also have mock tests. So, on average, you’ll have a test every two weeks.” 

A roar started to flow across the class. Displeased teenagers were hard to deal with, and knowing that, Kakashi grabbed his comic book, and with the corner of his eyes wrinkled by what Naruto imagined to be a smile, waved goodbye. “I need to look for some seniors to mark your tests. I’m sure it will be good practice for them to find all the stupid mistakes you’ll make.” In an instant, he vanished into thin air, leaving the door open. 


	2. Disagreements

On Thursday morning, he felt like the alarm clock rang noisier than ever. He had spent all Wednesday evening checking out the documents Itachi had sent - he had even printed out a copy and hung it up on his wall. That most likely did not speed up the learning process, though, but it helped him have a clearer conscience.

“A-i-u-e-o,” he repeated to himself like some sort of mantra as he tied up his sneakers.

“Hm?” 

“The Japanese alphabet, Mom. It’s for school.”

“Oh,” Kushina laughed heartily. "I was starting to worry, honestly. You didn’t tell me you’re taking Japanese.” She was in one of the many dresses she had. This one was an adorable knee-length, polka-dot one, the beige fabric made her straight red hair seem prominent as it cascaded down to her shoulders and reached her belt’s level. As far as Naruto remembered, his mother had always had long hair. He was so used to seeing the crystal pendant she had around her neck that he didn’t think whether or not it matched the outfit, knowing that even if it didn’t, Kushina would not take it off.

He licked his lips. “Yeah. I’m taking Japanese.”

“Good! The others? Are they taking Japanese as well? I bet Sakura is.”

“Uh. No, she’s in French. Nobody else is taking Japanese.”

Kushina leaned against the door frame. “Hmm.”

He shrugged, standing up at the front door. “Yeah.”

“How’s it going so far?”

“Alright, I guess? It’s only the first week. So far so good.”

“Yeah?” She looked genuinely happy to have heard it. “Maybe you’ll speak Japanese by the time you graduate. How cool would that be?”

“Mhm. I wish. They assigned Itachi to substitute until they find a proper teacher. Come to think of it, isn’t it a little weird they didn’t look for someone before the semester started?”

“They’re probably making excuses. They already have a teacher who speaks the language, why pay someone else extra?” She hummed to herself in thought. “Itachi, huh. As expected of him.” Kushina had talked to Itachi only once or twice, but Naruto suspected she was becoming one of the fangirls of his… which was pretty gross to think about, so he cast the thought aside.

“Thanks, Mom,” he faked offense as he grabbed the keys to the garage.

“Don’t worry, you’re not half bad."

Naruto stuck out his tongue. “I’m off.”

“Bye. I might be late tonight, newly arrived books are supposed to be categorized and shelved.”

“I know!” he shouted, since he had already stepped outside. He took his bike out of the garage and checked the brakes. The bike itself had collected a little dust over the Summer break, but all was fine after he cleaned the seat with his bare hand. His dark red sweatshirt caught attention as he biked through the streets. The thought of it made him grin. He was a teenage boy, after all. It was typical that he liked the attention.

The bike sheds at school had all been occupied, so he chose a random pole to lock his bike, just like many others had done. When he was finished, he started walking in the direction of the school building.

“Red! Over here!”

He stopped in his tracks and looked around, and when he finally noticed a hand waving at him near a tree bark, he walked over. 

Neji and Lee had their backs against a wall, and Neji was smoking nonchalantly, slim fingers keeping the cigarette in place.

“It was hard to see you from all the trees. Your tracksuit’s like a disguise,” he commented on the brown tracksuit Lee had on. He didn’t remember ever seeing Lee in normal clothing before.

“I didn’t notice,” Lee checked out his outfit with wide eyes. “I like the idea of it.”

“I thought you quit,” he said to Neji while Lee was busy with examining how he could hide between trees. 

Neji shrugged a shoulder and blew out some smoke. “I did.”

Lee made a confused gesture, back to reality. “Why are you smoking then?”

“This one’s expensive. Father left it in the living room. Probably forgot about it, too. It would be a waste not to.”

“Hah!”

“Lee, you’re in Literature?” asked Naruto, checking the time on his watch.

“Yup.”

“It’s almost time.”

Neji dropped his cigarette on the ground and smashed it with his shoe. “You make it sound like a mission or something.”

Lee sighed. “Wouldn’t it be cool if we were all ninjas? I want to be physically active. All we ever do is sit.”

“How was the basketball meeting yesterday?” Naruto put his hands in the pockets of his coat. “I kinda wanna join the team, but I’m not sure if I’m capable. Did Chouji get in?”

“Not yet. He’s not very good, but I’m sure Gai will let him if he practices hard enough. You should come!” He sniffed. “We did some practice, too. Someone had their phone in their pocket and it fell during practice. It was smashed by a youthful jump landing on it.”

Neji raised a brow. “Smashed entirely?”

“Thankfully, no,” Lee looked at him in melodramatic relief. “The screen cracked but it’s still working. It didn’t even have a case on! They got away lucky.”

Naruto and Lee showed each other their phone cases, discussing the durability. Lee’s looked tough, but was an ugly shade of green. His own was an ugly shade of yellow. Guess he did not have the right to say anything about it.

“Hey,” Neji piped up, greeting someone, earning himself two pairs of bewildered eyes. It didn’t take long for Naruto and Lee to realize who he was talking to. Naruto stood right next to Lee so they were lined up now, and the other person was fully in their sight.

It was Sasuke, holding a single cigarette between his fingers. From head to toe, he wore black, The Smiths t-shirt he wore was probably too thin for the season. He did not have a jacket on, his pale arms bare to the blowing morning wind. He acknowledged the presence of them, taking a place across Neji, right next to the tree, and borrowed a lighter from the other boy to light up his cigarette.

“You look a little pale,” was the single comment Lee made.

“Hn,” he inhaled the smoke. “I always look like this.”

Lee didn’t budge. “Even worse. I’d get tests done if I was you.”

A couple of minutes passed with unremarkable conversation.

“Umm. We better get goin’, by the way. Two minutes to class,” Naruto hopped out of the grass field. Lee and Neji followed him, and he felt obliged to turn around and ask, “You coming, Sasuke?”

Sasuke sniffed, inspecting the butt of his almost burned-out cigarette and not meeting Naruto’s eye. “Go ahead.”

“...Fine,” he gave a dismissive shrug, casually bumping his shoulder into Lee’s as they made their way toward the school building.

* * *

Later on that day, one hand occupied by a red Starbucks tumbler, and the other one some papers, Itachi walked inside the classroom. He left his belongings on the desk and looked around, mentally counting the students. “Good afternoon,” he said, appearing pleased. 

Hummed replies were left hanging in the air, as Itachi made a sudden introduction to the day’s topic, walking all the way to the front of his desk and resting against it. “Anyone who’s satisfied with their pace at learning the alphabets? Did everyone take a look at them?”

Shikamaru raised a hand. “It was certainly easier than I thought.”

This time, Naruto was sitting in the first row, so it was much easier to see the board as well as the teacher. 

“Excellent. If you did familiarize yourself with it, now it’s time to learn how to write,” he smiled, and it grew wider as the students made troubled noises. “It’ll help you to remember how to read as well. Don’t fret, I’ll go easy on you. You don’t need to be fluent. Just show some effort and that’s enough for me.”

“How many weeks are reserved for the alphabet in the curriculum?” 

“There is no set curriculum,” explained Itachi with an excited look in his eye. “I have a textbook that is commonly used in teaching. Other than that, you’re completely at my mercy.”

Chouji’s water bottle cap made a disturbing sound as it was closed, distracting Itachi for a mere second.

“But that’s also why I’m going to need you to cooperate. If there’s anything, in particular, you want to learn about, I’m open to proposals. Otherwise, I’ll be teaching as I see fit.”

“Can we skip the writing? It’ll go faster that way,” Shino said. “I don’t think they’ll expect us to write in Japanese even if we go to Japan anyway. _Because_ we’re foreigners.”

Itachi seemed to give it some thought, looking back down at the papers he had brought. “I don’t think it’ll take too much of our time to learn how to write hiragana and katakana. You’ll be able to recognize the characters much more easily if you study the lines. We can leave out kanji, though.” He started chewing on his bottom lip, deep in thought. 

“Let’s do that,” Naruto uttered. “I’ve studied hiragana. I can’t say I know everything yet, but it doesn’t look that bad, honestly.”

“Anyone against the idea?”

The atmosphere got heavier when Sasuke opened the door to the classroom, looking as laid-back as one could be.

“Come in. We were just starting,” Itachi ushered him to the seat next to Naruto. Sasuke, however, walked past it, heading for the back row. “Will you be able to see the board from there?”

“In a classroom this size? Perfectly.”

“If you say so.” He started handing out the papers he had brought. “No one seemed opposed to it just now, so we’ll be learning how to write hiragana this week. Next week will be katakana, and then you’re off the hook. Also, Naruto and Sasuke, you both have a strike for being late. Don’t repeat it.”

The expression of disgruntle Sasuke had on was almost palpable. Naruto shrugged it off, bringing out a turquoise blue mechanical pencil and an eraser, as well as his notebook.

“In Japanese, you have to know the stroke order to write something. The characters are not randomly drawn.”

“Whoa. I didn’t know that.”

“Now that you do, Chouji, do your best to remember them.”

Naruto thought he heard Sasuke snicker cynically. He was starting to think Sasuke could not bear Itachi talking to other people and tried to sabotage whenever he felt like it. Funny thing, he didn’t look over the moon when Itachi talked to himself either. Naruto didn’t have any siblings, so he didn’t know how the chemistry worked between them, but was it really this way? He did not think so.

They spent the first period trying to learn how to write down the characters, and repeating them over and over again. He thought his notebook looked decent enough, but he cheated every once in a while by checking out the paper to remember the stroke order.

Most of the class was already done with their work, already moved onto the second paper, which consisted of some sentences completely in hiragana.

“How do you pronounce this t-s-u sound?” Shino quietly groaned, probably meaning it to be heard only himself, but Shikamaru turned around, brows furrowed. “It’s _tsu. Tsu_.” Naruto didn’t have an idea if that was the correct way to say it or not. “Ugh. What a drag,” Shikamaru said before facing his own desk again. 

Itachi looked concerned. “Maybe we should learn a few words first. It’ll help you remember.” He hovered over the textbook before he listed some phrases, changing the board marker from blue to black when he started writing out sentences instead. Naruto could recognize the symbols, and although slow as a turtle, read them, but he did not understand what they meant. And there were no spaces between any characters, too.

“First word, _gakusei_ , means student - don’t bother taking notes, I’ll hand out more papers. As you probably noticed, there are two small lines on top of _ka_ . Which makes it _ga_ . And if we want to use it in a sentence, we could say, _watashi wa gakusei desu_. Want to guess what it means?”

Gaara, as a matter of fact-ly, replied. “ _I am a student_.” 

“Yes, exactly. _Watashi_ is the formal way to say _me_ . We will be learning formal Japanese here, just so you know. _Wa_ is….” He raked a hand through the top of his hair, careful not to loosen the tie. “We’ll call it the topic particle. So the word right before _wa_ is the topic, In this example, it’s there because the topic is me. And _desu_ is the state of being. Similar to _to be_ in English. Is it clear enough?”

Some girl Naruto didn’t know spoke up. “Sort of… but not really.” The other students confirmed the statement, except for the two in the back row.

When he stole a glance, he saw Gaara watch out the window, and Sasuke seemed completely in trance, doodling something on the corner of the sheet Itachi had given them.

The following period was a little different. Itachi had seemed to accept that the first class was way too soon to wrap their head around some of the grammar concepts, or start reading beginners material. They had covered a few basic grammar rules and moved on to vocabulary. Naruto was starting to get hungry, though, and had grown tired from trying to concentrate. 

“Enough for today, I think. I’ll make sure the material for next week will be in your hands by tomorrow, so don’t forget to study. And one more thing,” he added, “I want to hand out some assignments so you actually use what you’ve learned.”

“Like what?”

“Well. I know you are all busy with other classes, too. Small things, like, writing a self-introduction.”

Chouji groaned. “That’ll take forever.”

“We could do it in class instead.”

“Let’s do that,” Gaara seemed bored of the argument.

“He speaks!” Itachi smiled. “Good enough. If that’s the case, I want you all to pair up. One of you may have three members in the group.”

He wished he had a close friend in the class. When they were together with his friends, if the teacher had allowed them to choose a partner themselves, he had always paired up with Kiba (before Hinata came into the picture). Also, Lee was fun to work with, and he was always enthusiastic to try out new things.

He watched the people around closely, trying to find someone he could approach to. Gaara would be his first choice ideally, because he knew by experience that the guy was easy to work with, but Shino had acted first. Everyone seemed to have paired already. Sasuke was still sitting unaccompanied, but before he could make eye contact, someone took the seat next to himself.

“We should pair up.”

He frowned, recognizing the pale face from the previous class. “Umm. Sai, was it?”

“Yes.” The other boy smiled – Naruto felt goosebumps rise on his arm. “Unless you have someone else in mind.”

“Ah. No,” he rubbed his right arm to soothe the feeling. “Of course.”

By the time Itachi’s attention was back on the class, the only person left out was Sasuke, who had not even bothered to ask any team if he could join them. “I can do it on my own,” he declared unenthusiastically when people started staring at him.

Itachi tapped his fingers on the desk. “Anyone who wants Sasuke in their team?”

Nobody spoke up. It was when Sasuke let out a breath that Naruto hesitantly lifted a hand. “You can join us, if you want to.” On second thought, he also asked Sai, “It’s okay, right?”

Sai seemed completely indifferent. “Sure.”

All eyes were on Sasuke now. He reluctantly nodded after a moment.

“It’s settled then,” Itachi started picking his things up. “I have to be somewhere else, so you’re dismissed. Don’t make noise in the corridors.”

After packing his possessions and putting on his jacket, he went out into the yard, walking toward the basketball court. There was an idle ball on the ground, so he picked it up once he dropped his bag beside the pole where he could see. He bounced it a couple of times before shooting it. The ball took a turn on the hoop and fell down without entering into the net.

About ten minutes later, the bell rang, and students started filling the yard. Some people he had seen during basketball matches were practicing on the other side of the court. Soon, Sakura arrived, rocking from one side to the other and rattling on about the wind. The denim skirt she had on didn’t keep her warm enough, Naruto presumed.

“You okay?” He asked, sending the ball to the freshman kids waiting for their turn at the sides. “You look a little down.”

Sakura shut her eyes tightly. A small yawn followed that. “Yeah. Just tired. I had advanced placement Biology.”

“Wait a sec, don’t they overlap with French?”

“They do. I had to write a letter to be exempt from attendance for French. As long as I score high on tests, they don’t mind.”

“You’re amazing, Sakura,” he grinned. “I should’ve made you fall in love with me when I had the chance to.”

“Who says you still don’t have a chance?” She poked at Naruto’s chest.

“ _Tease_. Oh, right!” He took off his jacket and handed it out for Sakura to put on.

Sakura seemed moved. “You don’t have to.”

“Nah. It’s too hot out here for me anyway.” Sakura put it on, and he jokingly eyed her from head to toe, then catcalled. “Now you look even hotter.”

“Green doesn’t even suit me. But it’s warm so. Thank you.” She sniffed the collar. “Smells like you.”

Naruto picked up his bag and they started walking toward the exit. “Shit. Does it smell bad?”

Sakura shook her head. “No. All I smell is your cologne.”

“Ah. I’ve been using the same cologne since middle school,” he chuckled, linking his arm with Sakura’s. “Hey, wanna go to that new bubble tea place?”

Taking her time to think, Sakura kept playing with a lock of pink hair with her free hand. “I don’t know. I have things to do.”

“I actually have something I want to talk to you about,” he murmured. “Promise, it won’t take that long.”

“Hm? Is there something wrong?” She squeezed Naruto’s arm softly.

“Kinda. I mean, it’s not that big of a deal, I guess. But it’s been bothering me. I can’t think of anyone else to turn to.”

Sakura smiled. “Okay. Let’s have a talk then.”

However, it was difficult to sneak out of the school without being seen by their other friends. So they separately made excuses and met up at the café. Naruto had already ordered his passion fruit-flavored drink, and taken out the snacks he had bought at the convenience store on the way. Sakura opted for kiwi flavored bubble tea for a change.

“So, what’s up?” she asked, looking directly into Naruto’s eyes. The parallel leather couches were a bit far from each other, and she had been hunching forward to hear more clearly.

Naruto watched around for a moment, studying the wall decorations and the windows. In the end, he took a sip from his drink. “It’s Kiba,” he admitted, “He’s been acting strange.”

“Kiba? How?”

“It’s hard to explain. Uhh, I feel like he’s… changed,” Naruto said, crossing and uncrossing his legs a couple of times to find a comfortable position. Finally, he settled for a posture similar to Sakura’s. “Ever since he’s started out going out with Hinata. He’s been… ignoring me – or something like that. Sort of.”

She frowned, playing with the hem of Naruto’s jacket she had on. “He’s been ignoring you,” she repeated. Naruto could imagine gears turning inside her head. “What exactly made you think that?”

“See, I thought I was imagining things until that thing happened.”

“What thing?”

“Remember when they announced we’d be taking mandatory language classes? The second they told us the options, Kiba was all like _let’s take Japanese, it’ll be fun, oh my god_. He worked his ass off to persuade me.”

Sakura was biting on her lower lip. “Isn’t he in Spanish, though, with Hinata?”

“Exactly. He ditched me and took Spanish instead! I had told him that I preferred Spanish over Japanese, even. And he didn’t even take the trouble to tell me about it when he changed his mind.”

“That’s awkward,” Sakura commented. “Did you talk to him about this? Maybe he forgot to?”

“Yeah, no. I don’t know. I will, eventually. I just… feel so… cast out. ‘specially when Hinata’s around.” He stirred his drink. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Hinata. It’s just—”

“No, of course.”

“You get it, right? He’s just so into her that he forgets about me. Is that normal? Am I exaggerating?”

Sakura swiped her bangs to the side. “I think it’s a perfectly legitimate reason to get upset over.”

“Mhm. He’s my best friend. And I feel like he’s growin’ away from me. I never received an apology. I mean, it’s fine, I don’t mind. It’s whatever. But he didn’t even _try_ to make amends.”

“Seems like he needs a kick in the butt, Naruto. You won’t know what’s going through his head without talking to him. You guys seem to get along at school, though. To me, at least.”

He popped the tapioca inside his mouth. “It’s not like we fight or anythin’. It’s just like, I don’t know. I feel bad for feeling bad.” He deeply breathed in, trying to find a better way to explain himself, and ending up failing. He felt like shit, and that was it.

“You’re adorable,” Sakura laughed. “Sorry. It just feels different having you open up about stuff. Guess we’re all susceptible when it comes to things we care about.”

Naruto rubbed an eye. “We’re human after all. That any good?” He pointed at Sakura’s drink.

“Meh. Not bad, but I’ve had better.”

“Hmm. Mine’s too sweet.” He touched the nape of his neck, rubbing the tense muscles. “How are things with you?”

Sakura pouted cutely. “You know. Same old.”

“Any progress with Sasuke? He’s in one of your AP classes, no?”

“He is. Chemistry. But sadly, no,” she shook her head. “He’s just, well. A little distant.”

“When you start up a conversation?”

“He replies, but it doesn’t last long until we’re out of things to say. I don’t think he sees me as a potential partner,” she admitted, staring at the floorboards.

Naruto reclined in his seat. “I wonder if he’s into someone else. I don’t think so, though. He likes being aloof, doesn’t he? It must be hard to pick up the conversation from where he’s looking down on us.”

“He’s not like that,” Sakura argued with composure. “Really. I’m not saying this out of affection.” Her cheeks were slightly blushed, and Naruto was sure it was not just her make-up.

“Seems like that to me, honestly. He acts like he’s not one of us,” he elucidated.

“That’s what I thought, too. Before having a chance to talk to him. It’s true that he’s a little cold. But I wouldn’t say stuck-up.”

Naruto put his empty cup on the table, grabbing for one of the granola bars. “…If you say so.”

“Aren’t you two taking Japanese together? Maybe go talk to him?”

“Maybe. Itachi put us in groups and he didn’t have a group, so I asked him to join me and Sai.”

“You asked him? I thought you didn’t like him?”

He shook his head. “I have no reason to. But nobody else asked, so. I didn’t want him to feel left out.”

Sakura’s expression softened, and the right side of her mouth lifted up slightly. She reached for a bar wordlessly and unwrapped it before taking a bite.

“I’m gonna have to talk to him whether I want to or not, now. Heh. We’ll see if it’s as you say, Sakura,” he offered a small smile. “If not, will you write one of my literature essays?”

“...No. That’s plagiarism. Oh, I wanted to ask earlier. Why is Itachi teaching Japanese anyway?”

“He’s substituting until they find someone.”

Sakura nodded slowly. “I see. He’s substituting for Math as well, isn’t he. Must be tiring.”

“I’m sure it is. I’d wanna change bodies with him for a day, though. To see what it’s like to be so smart.”

“Stop saying that. You’re just as smart as anyone. What you lack is the awareness that you can’t do everything last minute,” she said, giggling when Naruto pouted. “But if you ever struggle with anything I can help, I’m here, you know.”

“Sakuraaa. You’re so good to me,” he threw his head back. “How can I ever repay you?”

“Walk me home?”

He followed Sakura off the couch. “That’s all? Wow, I got off cheap.”

“Heh. I might ask for more later.”

“Jesus. Women are foxy.” He pulled the hood of his jacket up, messing up Sakura’s hair. He received a slap on the hand for that, but he deserved it.

* * *

Naruto didn’t get a chance to catch Kiba alone until next Tuesday. They both had World History afternoon, and after having lunch with the others, they both grabbed their cans of coke and started walking around the yard in circles.

“I need to take Akamaru to the vet,” Kiba muttered, occasionally stealing a glance at his brand-new Adidas sneakers. “His vaccine for rabies is long overdue. You wanna come with me, man?”

“When are you taking him?” Naruto asked, fingers damp from the cold can between his fingers.

“Uhh. Saturday, I think. I’ve nothin’ else to do.”

“I dunno. I think I’m free on Saturday,” Naruto replied. He looked at Kiba, who seemed very keen on taking Naruto with him. “Yeah. I’ll come with you.”

“Awesome!” Kiba laughed joyfully. “Hey, we can grab somethin’ to eat later. It’ll be awesome. _Awesome_.”

Unable to keep himself from snickering, Naruto asked. “Why are you so psyched about it?”

“Do I need a reason? ‘cause I love you, man. I like hangin’ out with you.” He finished his coke in one go and attempted to throw the can into the container from a good distance. The can clashed into the metal container and fell to the ground.

Naruto felt a sting in his heart. Kiba was… his best friend, dammit. But he was not sure if opening up to him about his worries would resolve everything or start a quarrel. Was it okay to keep his mouth shut for his friend’s sake? He could endure it alright, precisely because _Kiba loved him_ , and he believed there were no ill intentions behind his actions. But he kept getting hurt, over and over again, and Kiba seemed unaware of everything.

“I wish you would’ve told me sooner about the Japanese thing,” he finally breathed out, trying to sound as normal as possible.

Kiba stopped walking. “Shit. Dude, yeah. I’m really sorry about not telling you,” he mumbled. “I changed it because Hinata did. It was really last minute – you wouldn’t be able to even if you wanted to.”

“I see,” Naruto replied. He should have not changed it at all if it meant Naruto was going to be alone. If he were in Kiba’s shoes, that’s what he would do. Did Hinata mean more to Kiba than he did?

He quickly shrugged off the thought, getting angry at himself for even thinking such thing. The girlfriend and best friend were in different categories. It wouldn’t be fair to compare them. “You could’ve told me later, though. But I guess what’s done is done.” He patted Kiba on the shoulder.

“Now you’re guilt-tripping me!” Kiba cried. “What should I do to be forgiven?!”

“Nothing.”

“Great,” he rolled his eyes, kicking a stone on the ground.

“I’m in the mood for some ice cream,” he stretched his back, taking a deep breath. “How nice would it be if someone treated me.”

Kiba looked at him, then started laughing. “Duuude.” He wrapped his arm around Naruto’s shoulder. “Let’s go get some. My treat.”

* * *

The weather had been getting colder, so they ate their lunch at the cafeteria on Friday. The usual gang was there, a familiar conversation going on.

Karin was as talkative as usual. “Kakashi’s on leave. Again. Guess who’s surprised, not me!”

“Maybe he has a condition. Or something,” Sakura made a guess. “Or else he’d be fired already.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I have no complaints. I’d prefer Itachi any day,” Karin said.

“Yeah. Kakashi’s alright. He’s a decent teacher, I think, as long as he’s in class. But he’s a dreadful person.”

“Hm.” Karin seemed to be thinking. “I don’t know about Kakashi, but. You know the theory about older brothers? I think Itachi’s proof of its accuracy.”

Neji, who always kept quiet when there was a talk about men, interfered all of a sudden. “What theory?”

“You don’t know?” Karin seemed excited to tell. “Older brothers are always hotter. In this case, we’re analyzing Sasuke as the little brother – who’s, like, super-hot,” she claimed boldly, completely ignoring the disgusted expressions the male population of the table had on. “But his older brother, Itachi. He’s, like, perfect. Gah! He should be a model instead. It’s a felony to keep him to ourselves in this tiny school.”

Lee seemed uncomfortable with the topic. “I-uh, have practice,” he fled from the table, almost knocking over a petite student as he tried to exit the cafeteria.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s fine. What wrong with you, Karin,” Neji retorted.

Naruto butted in. “She fell down the stairs and hit her head when she was a kid.”

“Ah, that explains some things.”

Karin crossed her arms, letting out an exaggerated sigh. “You’d have to drop out if I revealed your… _secrets_ here.”

“What secrets? I want to know!” Hinata laughed, covering her mouth with a hand.

Kiba leaned into the table. “Does he have a third nipple?”

“What?” Naruto gasped.

“He doesn’t. As far as I know,” Karin smirked.

“She’s bluffing.”

Neji sighed. “About the theory though, none of us have an older brother, right?”

“I think so,” Naruto agreed.

“We only have one example of it, then.”

“It’s one out of one. Which would make hundred out of hundred. The theory is a hundred percent accurate.”

“That’s not how statistics work,” Neji seemed ready to bash his head against the table.

Sakura tittered, then leaned back, eyeing the desert on her plate, probably considering whether or not she should eat it. “Anyone have plans for the weekend?”

“I should go shopping. I need new boots,” Karin mused, pushing her glasses back.

“Mind if I tag along? My parents are away to visit some relatives.”

“Sure! It’ll be fun. Hinata, you want to join?”

“Sorry,” she apologetically shook her head. “I already promised Kiba I’d go to the Sci-Fi exhibition with him.”

“Another time then.”

Naruto fixed his gaze on Hinata, trying not to bother the shy girl too much with the disturbance in his eyes. “Uhh. When are you guys…?”

“The exhibition’s on Saturday,” Hinata sweetly said, looking a bit confused. “Did you want to go? We can find an extra ticket if we hurry.”

“No, no, Hinata. Thank you, really.”

She paused picking at her nails, seeming slightly concerned, but did not probe further. “Okay then.”

Kiba was scowling at the table. “I thought the exhibition was on Sunday.”

“Huh? Didn’t you check while you bought the tickets?” Sakura asked.

“I did. I thought I did,” Kiba spoke under his breath while he furiously typed something on his phone. “It really is on Saturday,” he finally confirmed.

“Are you going?” Naruto inquired.

Kiba, appearing dumbfounded, stayed silent.

“What is it?” checked Hinata, looking back and forth at two boys.

“I’m just,” Naruto shook his head. “Never mind. I’m going.”

Sakura watched with narrowed eyes as Naruto grabbed his tray and took it to the designated spot. Hinata stood up, only to be asked to sit back down by Kiba, who then followed Naruto and grabbed him by the arm before he could leave the cafeteria.

“Nards. Naruto. I’m, fuck, I’m sorry,” Kiba spat in a rush. His eyes were wild and muddled as he apologized again and again. “I’m so dumb.”

“I know, Kiba. Stop it,” he said. His mouth had gone dry. “How many more times do I need to be put in the back seat?”

“Come on. It’s not like that,” Kiba shook his head speedily. “I didn’t mean to—”

“I know you didn’t mean to. But you’re hurting me.”

“It was an honest mistake. Anyone could’ve made it – consider yourself in my situation!” He seemed desperate.

Naruto took a deep breath, stepping aside when he realized they were blocking the entrance. “Kiba, just. Just let me be for a while, okay? I don’t wanna talk to you right now.”

“Are you mad?”

“No. Yes, I don’t – I don’t know.”

Kiba’s eyes narrowed. “Come on, man. It was a mistake. Why are you even hurt by this?”

“Will you stop deciding what I get hurt by?” He felt his veins throbbing. “I don’t like it. Can you let go?” He stared at his arm.

“Fine. Fine,” Kiba repeated, letting go of his grip on Naruto. His gaze turned cold. “Whatever you want.”

“ _Thank you_.”

As he walked out of the cafeteria, he could feel Kiba’s gaze stabbing into his back. The sensation lingered on long after he left, prickling his skin.


	3. Change, change, change

Next week on Monday, Naruto found out that Kiba had decided to give him the cold shoulder.

Maybe what Kiba did was not completely ignoring him, really, but for two people who were especially close, the detached good mornings and byes meant ignoring – and Naruto was not even sure why Kiba was acting like that when _he_ was the one in the wrong. All of a sudden, a cold war had started between them, and no one dared to say a word about it, watching from the sides and throwing confused looks their way. The only one who knew what was going on was Sakura, and she was far too busy to pry further.

After leaving the locker room alone, he was on his way to the Japanese class (again, alone). He knew they were going to be working in teams that period, but what he did not expect to find when he entered the room was Sasuke and Sai sitting together and discussing something in a rather passionate manner.

“Uh. Hi,” he greeted as he sat down next to Sai. “You guys seem… intimate.”

“What?” Sai blankly stared at him.

“Nothing,” he gave a shrug, “Itachi’s not here yet?”

“He went to the teacher’s lounge to get markers.”

“Okay.” He crossed his arms as the other two went back to their banter.

He felt particularly moody because Sai and Sasuke got along – or maybe that was just an excuse and there was no reason at all. He was not envious of their chitchat, but he wished he had someone next to him he could talk with just like they did. Someone to share occasional remarks during class.

He stretched his back. All he wanted to do was to go home and watch drama movies to drown out the unpleasant sensation, just like he had done all Sunday. He had a hunch that Saturday would have passed like that as well if it weren’t for Sakura, tugging him out of the house to join them shopping. At least the discounted sweater he had bought looked sort of good on him, as Kushina had approved. 

The roaring in the room died down when Itachi came back, hands empty. “Unbelievable. All of my markers dried at the same time.”

“Maybe that’s a sign we shouldn’t be doing this,” Gaara complained.

“I have a feeling you’re going to give me a hard time with your grumpiness, Gaara,” Itachi said. “Lucky for me, I’m experienced in dealing with edgy teens. As for your concern, we still have pencils and papers.”

“So, what’re we doing today?” Shikamaru asked with a dull tone, rocking his crossed legs, sick and tired of the disagreement already.

“For starters, I want you all to write three sentences about your partners. You three can do two things about each of your teammates,” he offered while looking at Sasuke, Sai, and Naruto.

“That makes four sentences for each. One more than the others,” Sai stated. It appeared that nobody ever accepted anything without a fight in this class.

Itachi glared at Sai. “I know. I can count.”

Chouji yawned out loud. Naruto himself let out a small yawn unintentionally – half wondering if it really was contagious as social media said.

“Feel free to use the internet, for dictionaries or Google Translate. Use words we haven’t learned yet, if possible. We’ll check them together at the end.”

All the other groups had started asking each other questions and writing them down. Naruto looked at Sai, then Sasuke. They both had unperturbed faces on.

“I’ll start,” Sai declared firmly when no one else took the initiative, a pencil in hand. “Sasuke enjoys drawing portraits. He somewhat reminds me of Alex from A Clockwork Orange… Wait, that’s going to be hard to translate,” he flicked off Naruto's eraser to rub it off, and Naruto was too preoccupied with his statement to notice that his eraser was gone.

Which part of Sasuke was like Alex? He didn’t seem like the criminal type. Just a little emo, maybe. Was it the crazed look in his eye? He stole a glance at Sasuke, who had a pretty normal look on his face. He brushed off the thought altogether. It was probably just Sai. “He would rather learn French than Japanese. That work?”

Sasuke gave a nod. “Whatever.”

“Naruto.”

“Ha? Yeah,” he breathed out, as if pulled out of a trance. He had been thinking about why Sai knew so much about Sasuke.

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Me? Uh. I like… KFC. Wings to be precise,” He awkwardly said.

“KFC?” Sai raised a brow. “Alright. I’m writing down _Naruto likes chicken._ Tell me something else about yourself.”

“Let’s see,” he looked down at the hem of his shirt in thought. “Um. I like girls with long hair?”

“Is that a question?” He jotted it down anyway.

“No,” he made clear. “I _like_ girls with long hair.”

“Really?” Sasuke seemed interested. Naruto thought it could also be retaliation for butting in when Itachi and Sasuke had been talking in the first lesson.

“I do, actually.” He said, feeling an edge to his voice. “Why? Something wrong with it?”

“I’m just curious why hair’s so important,” he said, looking directly into Naruto’s eyes – he really didn’t have an Alex vibe. His appearance just came off as broody. “It grows. It gets cut. It _falls_. It’s trivial.”

Naruto clenched his fists. What was this about? “…So?”

Sai was already busy translating his sentences on his smartphone. Naruto pulled out his own and laid it on the empty desk next to his.

“Anyway,” he bitterly said. “Can you tell me two things about yourself?”

“Why’re you so cranky?” Sai interfered while he started drawing his characters on the paper. “Is this about the size of your dick?”

“My di—what?”

“Its size. You know. From what I see, it’s obviously not very… _special_.” He caught Sai shamelessly staring at his crotch.

“I’m perfectly happy with my size, thank you for your concern,” he asserted, feeling the urge to slap Sai. Or Sasuke. Preferably both. Why did Sakura like Sasuke again? He wasn’t exactly pleasant so far. He crossed his legs uncomfortably in an effort to make his groin look less visible to Sai.

“Two things about myself…” Sasuke hummed, changing the topic back to the primary one. “I am Japanese. That one will be easy to write. For the second sentence, you can write that I like watching the sunset.”

As he took notes, Naruto once again wondered how Sai knew much more personal stuff about Sasuke. When asked, he obviously gave superficial answers like this.

“Can I ask you now, Sai?”

Sai was in the middle of his second sentence. “No.”

Sasuke joined his hands together. “Your turn to tell me, I suppose.”

“Okay. I’ll go with,” he raised his hand to scratch his cheek, only then noticing the traces his nails had left in his palm. Had he really been acting edgy? Thinking back to it, Sasuke had only _asked_ why he liked long hair. Was he letting prejudice interfere with his behavior?

“I’m waiting.”

He quickly came up with something. “Umm. I sometimes forget to check expiration dates on milk cartons and end up drinking spoiled milk.”

“How am I supposed to translate that?” Sasuke bit out.

“Erm. Google Translate?”

“I won’t know if it’s correct. Online translators tend to mess up.”

Naruto took a breath. “Ah. Then. I wanna join the basketball team, and I wanna get married someday. That makes two.”

Sasuke’s brows furrowed. “Alright.”

“You can ask me now,” Sai said after he left the pencil on the desk and put on a creepy smile. “Or don’t. I’ll just tell you. I have a pretty dick and I like drawing naked men.”

Much to his dismay, Itachi had decided to check on the groups, and ended up hearing him since the distance was very close. “Sai,” he put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, only to remove it right away. “Can we talk outside for a second?”

They walked out of the classroom together, and Naruto hesitantly looked at Sasuke. “You think he’ll be okay?”

Sasuke was meticulously writing the sentences down on his notebook. “Sai’s always like that. He must be immune to being preached to by now.”

“I meant Itachi.”

He was completely astonished when Sasuke let out a small chuckle. His laugh was deep, a little throaty – probably from smoking, and the corners of his eyes creased. “Your sense of humor is… better than I’d expect.”

“Is that a compliment?” He asked, reaching for his phone to open Google Translate. “I’ll take it as one.”

“Sure.”

On a whim, he opened his mouth. “Sorry if I sounded like an ass. Not having the greatest day,” he admitted. He didn’t see a point in making an enemy out of Sasuke. Plus, he wanted to believe in Sakura’s words and put his bias down to give Sasuke a chance. It wasn’t fair.

Sasuke looked at Naruto like he was trying to figure out why Naruto was apologizing. He ended up slowly shaking his head and going back to his work.

Naruto took it as a good sign. “You think I should write things like _he has short hair_ for Sai?”

Sasuke bit at the end of his pencil, then pulled it right away, looking like he was trying to stop a bad habit. “You can remove naked men from his sentence and just write _Sai likes drawing_.”

Naruto typed it and translated. “ _Sai wa e ga suki_.”

“Don’t forget to add _desu_.”

“Oh, right. Thanks,” he started writing, trying to draw his lines as clear as possible and being slow as a result. “Google Translate’s really not that reliable, huh?”

“Probably.”

“Hey, Sasuke,” he said, just because he had an urge to ask a question, and didn’t see a reason not to. “How come Itachi can speak Japanese and you don’t?”

Itachi and Sai entered the classroom before he could get a reply, Sai looking exactly the same as before. Even if he had gotten berated, there was no sign of it on him.

“Are you two done?” He sat down, making the wooden seat creak.

Naruto had only finished writing one sentence. “Not yet, umm. I still need a second sentence from you.”

“Just write that I love my mom.”

“Uhh.” His eyes wandered to Sasuke, who refused to look back at him, nonchalantly reviewing his sentences. “Okay?”

“You always sound like you’re asking a question. I don’t like it.”

He was too confused by Sai to be mad, so he ended up writing the simple sentence without probing any more. Also, he did not want to risk hearing any more about Sai’s dick.

“If everyone’s done, let’s read them out,” Itachi announced. “Who wants to read first?”

Shikamaru raised his hand.

“Go ahead.”

Shikamaru cleared his throat. “ _Chouji wa ima niwatori wo tabetai desu_ . _Chouji wa basukettobooruchiimu ni sanka shitai desu. Chouji wa yasetai desu._ ”

“Very good. Want to translate?”

“Chouji wants to eat chicken now. Chouji wants to join the basketball team. Chouji wants to lose weight.”

“His wishes are contradicting,” Gaara retaliated, and Chouji responded by sipping from his water.

Sai puffed out loudly. “That was my sentence. But I wrote _chikin_ instead of _niwatori_.”

Itachi did not bother answering them. “Now, the sentences are correct, but I want to review the words and particles, like the usage of _wo_ and _ga_ there, and also teach some alternative words – Sai, yours is also correct. Let’s write them on the board and—” he stopped, remembering that he did not have board markers. “Or not.”

“What do we do?!”

With a defeated sigh, Itachi ran a hand through his hair. “What a hassle. Guess I’m not fit to teach without using the board after all.” He started walking toward the door. “I’ll go ask other teachers if they have extra markers. Don’t make too much noise.”

* * *

He had been told by Lee that the basketball team was going to have a meeting in the gym during lunch hours, but Lee was not sure what time exactly. He had snacked on some crackers instead of having a proper meal, so he could be there on time and ask Gai if he could join.

The gym smelled of plastic and sweat as always. He sat down in one of the chairs close to the door and waited, scrolling through his Twitter as some of the members in the team came, having a quick practice until Gai showed up.

“Team!” Gai entered the gym a little after 12. “How are you all doing on this fine day?”

“Fantastic!” Lee cheered. He had his ugly green tracksuit on, again. His other tracksuits were more tolerable, but he chose to wear this one on days he would have a chance to practice.

“Great!” The other members gathered as well, and Naruto saw Chouji rush in, trying to catch his breath.

“Sorry! I’m late!”

Gai ushered him close. “No worries, my young child. You’ll get used to being on time.” His eyes suddenly landed on Naruto. “You!”

“…Me?”

“You! Why not come join us?!”

“Uhh,” he gingerly stood up. “Okay. I was actually wondering if I could join—”

“You’re in!” Gai declared with way too much excitement in his voice. “Welcome to the club! We need new members!”

“Hey! You weren’t half as enthusiastic as this when I wanted to join,” Chouji grumbled.

Naruto stood next to Chouji, looking around at the members who watched him with either curiosity, or skepticism.

“What’s your name? Introduce yourself, don’t be shy,” Gai urged when no one else spoke.

“Ah – sure. I’m Naruto. I’m a junior, and I want to play basketball so I can be more physically active.”

Lee clapped his hands. “Welcome aboard!”

Gai nodded, looking happy enough with his explanation. “Now, Kabuto is the team captain, he will help you during practice,” he pointed at the guy standing on his left side. Kabuto was standing very straight, eyes narrowed and challenging behind glasses. His grey hair was in a tight bun, and he had a basketball caught between his muscled arm and body. On the side of his face, Naruto could see some healed scars, probably from long ago.

“Hello,” he offered his hand.

Kabuto slowly reached for it, giving a tight shake. “Welcome to the team.”

“Thanks!” He smiled. “I’ve never played basketball professionally, so I might be a pain in the ass. Sorry in advance.”

“You’re good. Just don’t miss practice and show at least _some_ effort.”

“Don’t worry, I’m very excited about this,” he confirmed. “I’ll do my best.”

“Right then! The reason why I gathered you all here is to settle the practice days. I was thinking Wednesday and Saturday.”

Some kid, with apparently nasal problems, spoke. “Can’t we do it—” sniff, “on weekdays?”

“We could. Who else agrees to that?”

Most of the team raised their hands.

“Alright! Then,” he hummed.

“Friday is good, I think,” Kabuto offered.

“Friday, and… Tuesday?”

There were nods and indecisive looks thrown their way. Gai breathed out. “Okay, then. Tuesdays and Fridays it is. We can always change it later so don’t worry. Also, no practice tomorrow. We’re having the gym disinfected.”

There were footsteps behind them, and someone barged in, nearly tripping over himself. “Ahh!”

“Meeting’s over, Konohamaru,” Gai said. “Practice days are Tuesday and Friday, after school.”

“Oh! Okay!” Konohamaru said between taking deep breaths.

Chouji put the strap of his bag over one shoulder. “Can we go now? I didn’t eat yet.”

Gai made a thumbs-up. “Of course!”

Konohamaru let himself fall on his knees. “I ran all the way here for _nothing_.”

Naruto gave the kid a smack on the head - they were intimate enough for that as they had been neighbors for four years. Konohamaru was two years younger than him, so sometimes helped the boy with getting ready for the tests. Moreover, Konohamaru was fun to hang out with. He had been practically like a little brother to him after they had moved here. Their schedules did not allow them to see each other much, but Naruto liked the kid. “Geez, Konohamaru. Why are you so irresponsible?”

“Like you’re one to talk!” He cried. “You’re the one who forgets to lock the garage! Why are you here anyway?!”

“I joined the team, yo!” He gave a toothy grin.

Konohamaru stood up, already having forgotten his rage. “Really? We get to play together now?”

“I guess,” he sheepishly said. “I don’t know if I’m any good, though. We’ll see on Friday.”

“Yeah! We can practice in my yard when you’re free,” he suggested.

“Sure! ’kay then, kiddo. See you around, yeah?”

Happily, he nodded. “Mhm!”

Lee called out to him from the door. “Naruto! Neji’s waiting!”

He waved goodbye before sprinting to the exit. The ground squeaked under his feet.

* * *

Next week on Thursday, Japanese class ended up being pretty crappy. Itachi had given them individual sheets that had various words, sentences regarding those words and some multiple-choice questions that they were told to solve. There had been one set rule, though, since Itachi had a severe headache and would not be able to help much: they needed to make sure they had studied the sheet thoroughly and would know everything by heart before they could go home. It was already nearing 5 p.m. and by that time, the classroom was empty except for him and Sasuke. Even Itachi had left, saying he needed to take care of some things in the teacher’s lounge and that he trusted them to silently keep working.

Yet, Naruto was nowhere near being done with his work. It was probably too late to give up on Japanese, he felt like he had learned at least some stuff, and giving up would mean letting it all go to waste. Even if it were not like that, Naruto’s pride wouldn’t allow him to deem his work enough for now – like some of the students had, pack his things and go. His sheet was only half full, some of the example sentences about grammar rules seemed distractingly funny, and his eyes were too tired to read a foreign alphabet any more. Distressed, bored, and sort of irritated by the thick silence hanging in the air, he decided to get Sasuke’s attention.

He and Sasuke still didn’t talk much, despite being in the same team. Sai liked to blabber, so he often talked to Sai. Sasuke did not keep up the conversation for a long time when spoken to. But in hindsight, he remembered _not hating_ the small talks he’d had with him.

He tiptoed through the rows of seats - which didn’t take long, considering the size of the room, and stood before Sasuke. There were no reactions on the other side, Sasuke kept hanging his head low and drawing bats on the back of his sheet – and Naruto had to admit, they looked awfully realistic.

Muteness was not Sasuke giving him approval to sit down next to him, but the other did not seem opposed, right? He had not said anything, after all. And it wasn’t like Naruto had to ask for his permission anyway. The seats were not Sasuke’s belongings.

He stopped overthinking and got seated at last, and that was when Sasuke took off one of his earphones and turned to face him. “What?”

“Uhh. I need help with some of the questions,” he lied.

Sasuke went back to his doodling. “Go ask Itachi.”

“Why aren’t you doin’ the assignment? It’s getting sort of late, y’know.”

“I’m aware.”

“Why then?”

“I don’t want to.” Crossing his legs, he huffed out. “You say you need help. You didn’t even bring me your sheet.” He gave a cynical look.

“Yeah, uh.” He looked back at his sheet on the other side of the classroom. “Never mind the sheet. I’m bored to death. Just… talk to me for five minutes, for the love of Jesus!” He ended up sounding pretty dramatic toward the end.

Sasuke hummed, as if questioning himself. “Why should I?”

“Aren’t _you_ bored?”

“I am. Very much. But I’d rather listen to music.”

Naruto wrinkled his nose. “What are you listenin’ to anyway?”

He put the pencil down. “You wouldn’t know them.”

“Fair enough. Are they any good, at least?”

“I think so.”

What a tedious way to end a conversation would it be if Naruto were to say _alright then, good luck with that_ and walked back to his own seat, heh. He opted to dig a little deeper instead. 

“You mind if I join?”

“I don’t share my headphones.”

He elbowed Sasuke’s arm gently. “Just put it on speaker.”

Sasuke stayed in a tentative stillness for a good moment, but pulled out the headphone jack at the end, and let the music be heard.

_“Oh, he was young, in the frost, no regard for the cost_

_Of saying his feelings in the moment they were felt”_

Naruto tapped his right foot along with the rhythm. “A little different from what I

normally listen to,” he commented after a minute.

At an instant, Sasuke thrust the headphones back in. “Alright.”

“Wait!” Naruto practically shrieked. “I didn’t say I don’t like it. I want to hear

more.” He had not expected Sasuke to directly look into his eyes, as if confronting him. Testing him. Trying to see if it was a lie.

He tried to keep his cool. He didn’t remember ever facing Sasuke from this close, and Sasuke’s stare was intense on him – almost as if he expected Naruto to look away. But it was also… calm. Even _normal_. Not like the irritated ones he usually threw around – or it could be that Naruto just… had not looked close up enough to see past the broodiness before. He had a beautiful eye shape, too. Japanese genes, undoubtedly. Somehow it complemented Sasuke’s overall look.

_“Coloring the pictures with your loyal hand,_

_Now I am craving heartbreak while you’re making your demands”_

“What do you normally listen to?” 

The question took Naruto by surprise, and he was glad that the music was back on.

“Hmm. Pop? Upbeat stuff, I guess. But that’s for mornings. I listen to, like, sad music at night. Kinda fits the mood.”

“Like?”

“I dunno. Spotify finds me random songs. I don’t pay much attention to the artist.”

“Hmm.”

“I like Billie Eilish if you really wanna hear an example,” he said. “You seem more like one of those people who pick an artist and obsessively listen to every single song they make.”

“Not _every_ song. But you’re close.” He changed the track, but the genre was similar. “I tend to stick with one artist at a time, or at least a few.”

“Whoa. That’s new to me. I like your t-shirt, by the way.”

“This?” Sasuke brushed his bangs to the side so his profile was easier to see. “It’s

not mine.” It was a black Beatles t-shirt. Members crossing the Abbey Road - a classic.

“…My dad liked ‘em. Grew up listening to some of their songs.”

“Is that so.”

“So,” he squirmed, resting his arm on the desk. “Whose t-shirt is it then? Itachi?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke confirmed. “He bought it when he was younger. Now he finds wearing a t-shirt of his favorite band hideous.”

Naruto chuckled. “What an old man. I have a Nirvana t-shirt, but it’s too mainstream for me to wear to school.”

“Wearing a Beatles t-shirt’s mainstream as well, if you think about it.” He was examining the bat he had just drawn. “I… wasn’t really a fan of music a couple of years ago,” Sasuke told him. Naruto was scared that he would make Sasuke shut off again if he cut him, so he listened, all ears. “One day I was out of inspiration, and decided I’d put some music on. I didn’t know what to listen to, so I played one of Itachi’s playlists.”

“Ahh. What a great story.”

“I doubt it.”

“What do you mean when you say you were out of inspiration? Like, bored or something?”

Sasuke shook his head. “No. I meant drawing.”

“You do more than doodling in class?” He asked in awe. “That’s, like, super cool. I wanna see your other drawings!”

“Hm. I don’t like showing my work.”

“Come to think of it, I remember Sai saying that you like drawing portraits,” he said in thought, rubbing his chin. “Are you two close friends? That’s why he gets to see?”

“No,” Sasuke rejected. “He sees because we’re both in an art club. It’s not a personal preference.”

“Oh.” Now it was clear why Sai was so familiar with Sasuke. He already knew Sai was in the art club, because he liked to talk about how he took part in art contests every year, and he had even placed third the previous year. When he had shown the painting to Naruto, he remembered feeling amazed at the boy’s ability. He aimed for the top, he had made that clear. Naruto genuinely wanted to see Sasuke’s art as well, not because he wanted to compare them. Just because he was wondering what kind of art someone like Sasuke would create.

“Hey, Sasuke,” he started jiggling around a little. “Can I ask you something?”

Sasuke looked skeptical, eyeing Naruto’s rocking leg. “Depends on what it is.”

“It’s not a creepy question, I promise.”

“Hm.” He breathed out. “Alright.”

“I’ve been noticing that, I think, something’s maybe a little off with Itachi?”

It was curious how hearing the name shifted Sasuke’s expression. The change was not a lot, but it was _there_ , and it was hard to guess his thoughts, but he looked visibly disturbed. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t get me wrong - please,” Naruto anxiously waved his hands. “He just seems very tired. That’s what I meant.”

“He is tired. The average working hours for someone like him is 60.”

“Oh. Shit. I’d kill myself if I worked 60 hours a week.”

“Yeah.”

“And they assigned him to do this class,” he mumbled. “Now I feel bad.”

“Why do you care?” He frowned.

“He just. Reminds me of my dad,” he mumbled, hands feeling a little sweaty. “He worked very hard, and never had time to rest. I mean, he worked for us, I know, but… I just wish we’d spent more time together.” His voice had gotten considerably quieter toward the end.

Sasuke breathed out softly. “…What happened?”

“He had a stroke. We thought he’d recover, but. Yeah.” Feeling his face burn, he closed his eyes to cool down for a second. It was crazy how he had suddenly started talking about such a sensitive topic. He usually opened up easily about many things, but... not about his dad. Was it because he sympathized with Sasuke appearing mad at Itachi for working so hard? He remembered being mad at his own dad when he was a kid. 

Sasuke seemed at a loss about what to say, so Naruto leaned back and smiled to change the topic. “It must be nice having a brother. You get to worry about him. You get to be mad at him. I wish I had a sibling.”

“It’s not as fun as it sounds, believe me.”

Realizing the music had stopped, Naruto relished the quiet atmosphere. “Yeah. Maybe. I wouldn’t know. But the idea of having someone who’ll always be there for you. Willingly. I mean, I have Mom, and I’m grateful, but,” he rolled up the sleeves of his sweatshirt. “We always moved around when I was a kid, and I didn’t get to make many friends. So I was basically alone the entire time. It would’ve been nice if I had a sibling to spend time with back then.”

Sasuke appeared to be thinking. Maybe trying to imagine what sort of life would be if he were in Naruto’s shoes.

“But yeah. We settled down now with Mom, hopefully,” he grinned. Without even realizing, he had made the air intense again. “I’m not so alone anymore. And I like this school. I have friends here. ‘m happy.”

No response. Not knowing if Sasuke was generally bad with topics like this, or was overwhelmed by Naruto pushing information about himself down his throat, he started to panic.

“Uh. Sorry, I sorta went overboard there, didn’t I?” he chuckled, worried by Sasuke’s ongoing speechlessness. “I didn’t even realize. In my defense, though, you’re easy to talk to.”

“Hm?” Sasuke seemed taken aback by that. “Is that what you think?”

“Sure. If I gotta be honest, I always imagined you to be someone… rude. Who wouldn’t bother talking to me even if I tried.”

Sasuke grimaced. “Why would I do that?”

“A-yeah! Sorry. I’m blunt, aren’t I. Don’t get me wrong, I say the first thing that comes to my mind.”

“I’m not offended, Naruto.” He grabbed his pencil and started drawing something again. “I guess I paint a different picture for others than I think I do.”

“What do you mean?” He felt his heart beat erratically in his chest.

“I don’t know.” Sasuke reached for his bag. “I need a smoke.”

“Well, you can’t smoke here, can you.”

Sasuke paused, looking at the window, then the windowsill.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to sit there,” he said. “And there’s a fire alarm on the ceiling.”

“Hn. I guess.” He made a move to get away. “I’ll go downstairs.”

Naruto stood up and pulled the curtains aside. “Really? It’s raining.”

The sky was a mixture of orange and pink hues, creating beautiful scenery. Most of the view was blocked by trees, but it was still refreshing enough. The raindrops fell and dampened the windows, sliding down the glass and creating a pool.

Naruto glued his forehead against the cold window. “I don’t even have an umbrella. God, every time I bring one, the air’s dry as a desert. I’m so easily fooled by the forecast.” His breath fogged the glass.

“I’d trust my intuition if I were you. You commute by…?”

“I walked today, but I normally bike. Or take the bus.”

Sasuke walked close and opened the window. The wind blew inside. “It’s not that cold.”

“Huh? Yeah, I guess,” he said, sticking his head out of the window. “Smells nice.”

“You’ll get wet,” Sasuke gently pulled him inside by the hoodie and shut the window. “Seems like I won’t get to smoke.”

“You don’t look _that_ upset about it,” Naruto remarked, eyeing Sasuke. “Are you even addicted? Or do you smoke just ‘cause it’s cool?”

“Since when smoking’s cool?”

“Since we started high school. You know, breaking the rules. Being a delinquent. Watching V for Vendetta and thinking you’ll change the world.”

“I don’t want such a thing.”

Naruto pouted slightly. “That’s not even the point.”

“I smoke because I want to,” Sasuke simply said. “That’s not good enough for you?”

He turned his back against the windows and licked his lips. “I’m just tryin’ to understand.”

Sasuke spoke as he kept watching out the window. “It’s just a habit.”

Naruto didn’t say anything further. Learning more about Sasuke was fun, but he didn’t want to be pushy, and he didn’t know Sasuke’s limits and boundaries yet.

“What time is it?”

He took a look at the wall clock. “About… 6. Shit, we’ve been here more than two hours.”

Sasuke was quick to tear his eyes away from the outside and return to his seat. “Come on.”

“What?”

“I want to go home. Get your sheet here.”

Naruto’s eyes lit up. “You’re gonna help me?”

“Mm. More like we should solve it together, because I have no idea what some of the words mean.”

“You haven’t been studying? Naughty, Sasuke,” joked Naruto, quick as a cat while he grabbed his sheet and bag before he returned to the front row.

Sasuke puffed out a weird laugh at this. “ _Naughty_? Really?”

“I’m still surprised you don’t speak Japanese. How come Itachi does and you don’t? I’ve actually asked this before. You didn’t answer.”

“Is that so?” He rearranged his sheet so he could read the questions. “I was born here, and my parents spoke English at home so Itachi could learn. They forgot to add me to the equation.”

“Now they want you to learn it yourself, huh?”

“My father does, yes.”

“Why, though? Are they planning on moving back to Japan or somethin’?”

Sasuke sucked in his bottom lip in thought. “I don’t think so. He’s been disturbed that I can’t have a conversation with my grandparents.”

“Hmm. I’d be sad if I couldn’t talk to my grandpa.”

“I don’t care,” he shrugged it off. “I don’t have anything in common with them. But the language itself is not as bad as I thought. Might be the Japanese in me.”

They were sitting next to each other now, heads leaned in. Both were looking at Naruto’s sheet. Naruto agreed. “It is fun if you can do it.”

“It’s not fun when it’s forced.”

“Then pretend it’s not.”

“I can’t,” Sasuke refused.

“You can. Just try.”

Their argument was interrupted by Itachi walking inside, and he looked noticeably more tired. “Why are you two still here?”

“I couldn’t solve the questions,” Naruto said, his hand playing with the strings of his sweatshirt.

Itachi was dumbfounded. “Why didn’t you come to ask me like the others did?”

“They did? I didn’t notice,” he confessed. “Didn’t wanna disturb you.”

“Disturb me? It’s 6 p.m. Naruto.” He winced a little. “You can do it at home. I would never let you stay here this late if I knew.”

“It’s fine, really.”

“Find me tomorrow if you can’t figure it out tonight. We can take a look together, alright? Go home now.”

Sasuke had already packed his bag, eager to leave. “Itachi. Are you done with your work yet?”

“Yes, we can go home.”

“You might want to give Naruto a lift,” he said before leaving the classroom.

It was a little harder to see each other since the lights were off and it had gotten much darker outside, but he could see Itachi’s eyes. “Uh. I’ll take the bus, don’t worry about me.”

“He’s right. You’ll be soaking wet if you wait for the bus.”

“Really, Itachi, thank you, but—”

“Go follow Sasuke, he knows where the car is parked,” he said. “I’ll go get my coat.”

He really had not anticipated this, but when he looked out the window and saw there was a downpour now, he instantaneously felt grateful to Sasuke. He shoved his things inside his backpack and bolted out of the small room. “Sasuke! Wait for me!”


	4. An Act of Kindness

A couple of weeks went by without much improvement on Naruto’s relationship with Kiba, both sides continuing to pretend they were acquaintances and nothing more. Naruto had waited for Kiba to somehow come to his senses and do something about it, but the other still seemed oblivious to his fault, making up fake smiles with little to no conversation.

In the meantime, the weather had gotten much chillier, and soon it would be test season. After the Algebra quiz on Wednesday, they all went for an early dinner except Neji, who had an important family gathering.

The local burger store was bigger than chain restaurants, the toilets were cleaner, and the taste was a tad bit better, so they went there. Naruto got a menu with onion rings. The only person who didn’t get a hamburger was Karin, who was supposedly trying to lose weight.

“You think Kakashi’s gonna evaluate the quiz? Like, properly?” Lee asked as he chewed on his protein-rich hamburger.

Sakura nodded. “He does. I took Algebra 2 last year. He actually gave comments and stuff.”

“What about GPA?” Kiba asked, appearing a little panicky.

“Since it’s a quiz, don’t worry. But the actual test is important.” She informed. “He’ll even find ways to deliberately lower your GPA if you don’t take his course seriously.”

Lee wiped his mouth with a napkin. “It’s your first time in Kakashi’s class?”

“No, man, I just forget,” he shrugged. “What a psycho. Guess I need to actually study this time, eh?” Kiba was on the other side of the table, crosswise. Naruto tried not to look too much at him. Making eye contact had become sort of… _awkward_ , making his stomach churn in distaste.

“How is the basketball club, Naruto?” Hinata asked suddenly. She had even dropped her hamburger, all excited to hear about it.

He nearly choked on his milkshake. “Uhh. Very good, actually,” he said after swallowing. “Lee’s helping me out a lot. Gai’s super chill as usual, so,” he smiled.

Hinata smiled back. “Glad to hear that. I wish I could do sports. My father’s very much opposed to it, though.” She looked down, studying the bun like it was her first time seeing it. “I feel like I’d want to try volleyball.”

“Why’s he against it?”

“He doesn’t want me injured, is all.”

“Ah. I bet you didn’t play out much as a kid,” he commented.

Hinata pushed a French fry into her mouth. “Not really.”

Kiba cleared his throat. “I was thinkin’ that maybe we can do something fun before it gets too cold. It’s almost November. We need motivation before the tests, y’know?”

Sakura raised a curious brow. “You care about the tests now?”

Karin dropped her fork, and it slapped into her plate with an annoying clang. “Wait!”

Every gaze at the table turned to her. Sakura seemed greatly peeved by Karin shouting right next to her ear, too.

“Ugh – I mean. I have an announcement to make.” She cleared her throat and straightened her posture, reminding Naruto of a politician about to make a declaration that could change an entire nation’s fate.

“…Okay?” Lee raised a pair of bushy brows, earning himself a stern look.

“So, this week. Friday night.”

“…A party?” Hinata was quick to guess.

“Yes!”

Sakura slapped Karin’s arm, and Sakura did _not_ slap lightly. “Shout once more and I’ll step on your foot.”

“Sorry! 

“Who’s the host?”

“I don’t know,” Karin said ignorantly. “One of the seniors, I think. Who cares? I got the address. We should go!”

“I actually have practice on Friday,” Naruto stated in thought.

“You can go to practice _then_ come to the party.”

Lee was frowning. “Is alcohol involved? ‘Cause I’m not supposed to be drinking. It’s not good for my muscles.”

Karin glared at him. “Ever seen a highschool party without alcohol, Lee?”

“I don’t go to parties often. I don’t know!”

“Anyway,” she brushed her crimson hair aside. “Think about it. It’s BYOB - but we can manage, right?”

Hinata looked happy enough. “I can steal some vodka from my parents’ liquor cabinet.”

“Hinataaa. You go _crazy_ when you drink,” Kiba whined.

His girlfriend mischievously caressed his arm, although she was slightly blushing. “You’ll be there too. I’m not worried.”

Karin made a gagging sound. “Naruto. You _must_ come. An Uzumaki should never miss a chance to part-ey.” She lifted up her hand at him.

“…I’ll be there, then,” Naruto snickered, completing the high five.

* * *

After the meal, while everyone went home, Naruto had to return to school because it was the due date to pay for his basketball uniform, which he had entirely forgotten. It was still around five, and the club activities were supposed to be going on still. He didn’t know if Gai held other clubs except for basketball, but hopefully, he hadn’t gone home yet.

However, when Naruto checked, he was not at the teacher’s lounge or the yard, so he decided he would try his last chance at the gym. He hopped down the stairs, below the first floor, and wound up face to face with the locked gym door.

Crap, he thought. He had come all the way for nothing. In hopelessness, he let the handle go and started walking back in the silent hallway, sniffing the scent of mold mixed with something more chemical.

There were voices coming from the art room, which made him turn around once more. He passed the gym entrance and walked in there, cheekily hoping that Gai had magically decided he was interested in art.

Much to his disappointment, what he ended up finding was a bunch of freshmen with surgical masks on. He didn’t have much time to wonder why as he started coughing violently. The sprays they were spraying on what seemed like wooden cubes were absolutely suffocating.

He took the mask someone handed him without question and put it on. “Hi,” he finally managed to speak, still coughing occasionally. “Think I inhaled some of that. Do you guys know where Gai is by any chance?”

“No,” one of them said as she kept spraying. It was hard to hear over the sound and through the mask. “He left the gym a while ago.”

“What a bummer,” Naruto said, already distracted by the event going on to worry about his uniform. “Hey, can I have a look? That looks pretty.”

“Moegi, are you still spraying?”

Naruto turned toward the direction of the voice. It was Sasuke, who was now staring at Naruto with questioning eyes.

He was equally surprised, but he was the one who had barged into the art room unannounced here.

“What are you doing here?”

“Uh. I was lookin’ for Gai. He’s apparently gone, though. Now I’m curious about what you guys are doing.”

“Painting wood crafts – stop spraying that, you’re ruining the paint,” he ordered, looking like a professional as he took the wooden object away from the girl and laid it on a piece of newspaper to dry on a separate desk.

“What’s that spray?”

“Varnish.”

“Hmm,” he lowered his mask, but ended up coughing again. “Smells sorta nice.”

“I don’t think it’s anything worth ruining your lungs over,” Sasuke replied as he gathered up the brushes the others had used.

Naruto felt the urge to give him a hand, starting to close the caps of all the acrylic paint. The younger students had already gone out to wash their hands and get fresh air instead of helping. “Too bad you don’t have any windows here.”

“Yeah.”

“Where’s Sai? I didn’t see him today.”

Sasuke walked into the small back room, and Naruto heard the water running, possibly from a sink he did not know of. Not that he had any ideas about what was in the backroom, he was not familiar with the art room at all. “He’s on special leave. For an upcoming art contest,” Sasuke called out behind the wall.

“Ah. That’s great.” He put the paint bottles in what looked like their designated box and closed it. “How come he does and you don’t? You won’t partake in the contest?”

“I don’t want to.” Sasuke came back, with an electric stand-fan. He plugged it in and turned the fan in the direction of the door, effectively fanning out the gas in the room.

Naruto couldn’t help but mention, “Whoa. That’s clever.”

“It’s someone else’s idea.”

Naruto helped Sasuke wipe the tables and when the other students came back, he watched them sign the attendance sheet and leave.

It was then Sasuke and him. He sat on a table they had just cleaned and started rocking his legs back and forth in the air.

“Thanks for the help,” Sasuke said after a while, sitting in a chair himself, and sipping some water from a plastic bottle.

“You’re welcome.” Naruto started looking everywhere, at the walls, the crafts, and paintings around the room. “I haven’t been here before many times.”

Sasuke cocked his head. “What do you think? Do you like it?”

“Not bad. At all. Feels relaxing sitting here. There’s color everywhere. Lifts up my mood.”

“I’m glad.”

“Did you do your homework for Japanese?” He asked, out of things he could observe and comment on. “I haven’t even started yet.”

“I did.”

Naruto pouted. “How come?! You’re, like, super impassive in class. And you did the homework early on!”

“I like getting things like that out of the way,” Sasuke explained, resting his hand against his cheek.

“Hah. I guess that makes sense.” He removed his mask, giving the air a tentative sniff. “Oh. It’s safe now.”

Sasuke removed his own, putting it aside. “Fan really helps.” He moved to turn it off now that it had performed its duty.

“Genius. Hey, Sasuke. Can’t you show me something you made?”

“Why do you want to see?”

“I don’t know. Just out of curiosity. I have a hunch that somethin’ you’d make would be special.”

Sasuke pointed at one of the drying cubes on the biggest table standing in the middle of the room. “The brown one’s mine. It’s nothing extraordinary, though. Don’t get your hopes too high, I’m no Michelangelo.”

“Hmm? Who?” He hopped off the table, bolting to where the boxes were, and found the thing Sasuke was talking about. “Can I pick it up?”

“Sure. The paint must be mostly dry by now. Just try not to squeeze it too tight.”

Grabbing it, Naruto inched it closer to his eyes, studying the details of it. “Ohh. It’s a box.”

It was not very big, entirely easy to hold. The base color was brown, and Sasuke had somehow made it look ancient, and the golden details he had added here and there made it look very elegant. When he checked the other boxes, he realized they were painted random colors that did not look all that enticing, and the workmanship seemed relatively sloppier.

“Wow,” he muttered.

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah. Absolutely. I can imagine, like, a king placing his rings in this before he goes to bed. It looks somethin’ like that. Very classy.”

Sasuke quietly chuckled, moving closer to Naruto and watching him scrutinize the other details. “You can have it if you want.”

“No!” Naruto hollered. “I mean – yeah, I’d love to have it – but I also want others to see it. It’s pretty.”

“I can always make another one. We do a different activity every week so it’s not like we’re going to put everything on display.” He looked at the other boxes. “Most of them are going to be placed on a rack in the backroom to collect dust.”

“Ah. Is that so.” He ran a finger through the rough layer of paint on the surface of the box. “Umm. I’ll keep it then! If that’s okay?”

Sasuke gave a curt nod. “Sure. Let me wrap it first. It’ll get damaged in your bag otherwise.” He reached out, wrapping his fingers around the box. For a brief second, Naruto felt Sasuke’s cold fingers meet his own.

“Um.” He awkwardly let go. “Thanks.”

As Sasuke wrapped the box neatly with craft paper, he stood there, not quite sure what to do. It didn’t take long for the other to finish and hand him over the gift.

“I can use this, right? Or is it for display?”

“Whichever’s fine, just don’t put in anything that could damage the paint, or the wood.”

“Awesome.” He unzipped his bag and carefully put the box in. When he looked back at Sasuke, his eyes caught something. “There’s paint on your cheek.”

“Where?” Sasuke asked, clearly put out to hear that. His fingertips roamed over his skin to spot it, but he kept missing. Naruto stepped closer and tried to wipe the brown paint with a finger, but it was dry and wouldn’t come out.

“It’s not working, wait,” he looked around for wet wipes, and fortunately, there were some on the teacher’s deck. He took one out of the package and started rubbing it on Sasuke’s cheek, which turned a flushed red from all the scraping. He stood at close proximity, leaning forward when he was done to make sure nothing was left. “There. It’s gone. Does it hurt? It seems a little irritated.”

Sasuke grazed a hand against the now clean spot. “It’ll go away in a minute. Thank you.”

“Hope so. I feel like it would take longer ‘cause you’re so pale,” he absent-mindedly pointed out. “Anyway. It’s getting late. Are you gonna take long? I can wait if you want.”

It could be Naruto’s imagination, but he thought that Sasuke’s cheek had flushed even more. Was he blushing? Well, that sounded ridiculous. Maybe he was allergic to paint or something. Wouldn’t it be stupid for him to be in the art club if that were the case?

Before he could put forward another idea in his head, Sasuke replied, looking around. “I have a little more to do before I can leave.”

“Okay then. Tell those bastards to help more next week. It’s not fair you’re doin’ all the work.” He tapped his knuckles on the display desk. “Thanks again, for the gift. I’ll make good use of it.”

The piercing sound of a door unlocking unmistakably came from the gym as none of the other doors had a lock as big. He was quick as lightning as he grabbed his bag and said goodbye, and what sounded like an amused snigger to his ears resounded in his head as he mentally prepared apologies to present Gai for being so late.

……

Following Friday, after a mundane day of classes, practice and a surprise visit to the school infirmary, he was content to have arrived at the party place, sipping on a cup of orange juice while the others enjoyed their alcoholic beverages.

The music was not loud enough to keep them from chatting yet since the hour-hand of the clock had grazed past eight a just while ago. People were barely starting to gather, bringing bottles of alcohol in their hands.

Naruto did not remember coming to this part of the town before: it was not that different from where he lived, but the houses were distinctly bigger while the posh ambiance of their exterior was impossible not to notice. The inner part of the house followed the same mark, evident that someone with good taste had designed it. The furniture was all new – or at least taken real good care of, the floorboards were polished and shiny.

Naruto could guess the owners of the house, away on a business trip, would not be pleased to find out their son had thrown a huge party when they came home. The host, Deidara, did not seem to care about that one bit, bringing in pristine cups and glasses for people to fill in their drinks.

They had taken their place in the sitting space somewhere close to the massive TV unit. Hinata had a skirt on, thus, she had chosen to sit next to Naruto on the couch. Sakura was fine resting on the ground, against a wide coffee table. Before anyone else had tried, Karin had made sure she was the one sitting in the lone luxurious velvet armchair.

“Does it hurt too much?” Sakura asked, not putting off her chance to ask the question after everyone else, pantyhose covered knees drawn to her chest.

Naruto once again eyed his left wrist, which was tightly bound with crepe bandages. “Not really. I’m on painkillers, like I’ve said.”

“I know, but.”

Hinata was puckering her lips in sympathy. “They even had to bandage it. It hasn’t been long since you joined the team and you already have an injury.”

“This? It’s mostly to make sure I don’t move it too much. Really. It’s just a sprain.”

“How did it happen?” Neji inquired, left out from the details as he had joined them later for the sake of getting a drink, positioned on the arm of the sofa with a hand resting on its back.

Naruto took a sip from his juice. Too bad the doctor had instructed him to take the painkillers on time. It was just unfortunate that he missed the opportunity to get drunk like the others were most likely going to be in a while. “I’m not too sure. Kabuto was teaching us how to steal the ball, like with all the details and stuff. He’s great. You know Kabuto?”

“Yes.”

“Anyway,” he put his cup down and lounged, resting one leg on his other knee. “It got competitive once we tried it ourselves with the other newbies. Chouji, Konohamaru, Udon. There was another guy, too. I was tryin’ to steal the ball from Chouji. I think he got a little over-excited. Udon lashed out from another side, they clashed and Chouji lost his balance.” He struggled simulating the actions with his fingers, but it didn’t work out quite well. “Next thing I know, we’re both on the ground and he’s sitting on my hand.”

Neji grimaced with the evident visualization of the pain. “You’re lucky to get away with only a sprain.”

“I know, right?”

He drank his cocktail a little. “Ugh. The vodka Hinata brought is _strong_ ,” he said after taking another gulp, pulling a brave face, but his eyes gave it away. “Jesus, Hinata. I hope uncle doesn’t notice the biggest vodka bottle missing.”

The girl settled for a slightly anxious giggle. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Kiba was back from the toilet by the time he finished telling the story, and he sat next to Sakura on the ground Indian style. “Someone threw up in the tub.”

“Already? The house is gonna be an awful wreck once everybody goes home,” was Hinata’s commentary. Kiba affirmed it with a nod, running a hand through his hair and making sure it was messy enough for his liking.

Karin put her phone screen-down on her lap at last. Her top was not any less revealing than her miniskirt, and she kept yanking at it to stop it from riding up. “Can’t see any hotties around. I’m bored.”

“How come? Deidara’s friends are all cute,” Sakura suggested, looking at the direction where the older boys were discussing what sort of music to put on next to one of the huge speakers that surrounded the spacious living room.

“Oh, Sakura. She’s not looking for _cuties_.”

“If you think that’s offensive, Kiba, you’re wrong. I prefer a more masculine type in men. It’s no secret.”

“Like myself?” Naruto joked, pointing at his chest with a thumb. “I’m super masculine, y’know.”

Karin seemed to consider it. “Yeah, but a little more… um. You know.”

“What?” His smirk disappeared.

Neji snickered, already under the influence of alcohol if his out of character speech meant anything. “She just wants to smash a jock, is all.”

“The way you said it makes me wanna puke, but basically,” Karin admitted as she looked around, more thorough than a hunter looking for its prey. Her eyes stopped whirling around all of a sudden. “Basketball captain’s here.”

“Kabuto? I didn’t see him,” Naruto levered himself up to sit straight so he could see the back. Kabuto was indeed there, looking different than he usually did, dressed in a nice, casual pair of jeans and a tight shirt. After years of playing basketball, his physique had reached a fairly satisfying look. Karin seemed to agree, undressing her target for the night with her eyes.

She then looked at Naruto with pleading eyes.

“No,” Naruto rejected without hearing her out, knowing exactly what the girl was going to ask for beforehand. “Absolutely not.”

“Come _on_! I’m not asking you to make him fall for me or anything. Just introduce me.”

“I have a reputation I need to protect, Karin. Can’t you just bump into him or somethin’? You know, the old-fashioned way?”

“This is 2020, you dumbass.” She exasperatedly snatched Naruto’s cup of juice from the ground and downed it, her frown turning into a scowl. “What is this?”

“Orange juice.”

“There’s no alcohol in it!”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Have you even been listening?”

Hinata spoke unexpectedly, a little too loud, making Sakura and Kiba quit their chit-chat and turn to her in confusion. “I want to dance!” She exclaimed, hands joined together, and a smile plastered on her face.

Kiba got to his feet, using the arm of the chair Karin sat in as support. “Let’s dance, then.”

The last time Naruto had properly looked around, the living room had not been that crowded. Now, he saw people everywhere, familiar faces from school. The beat of the music was steady and allowed them to move smoothly. It was not romantic or anything, just the opposite, on the upbeat side. More like a warmup for the rest of the night. The volume had been increased, making them harder to hear each other.

“Hey, I’m gonna go talk to Deidara to see if he can play a song I like,” he announced as he got up. “Anyone want anything?”

Karin probably would have asked for a drink, but she had already disappeared, quick to move in the direction of her potential crime scene. Naruto felt the instinct to tell her to slow down, but it was Karin, there was no way she would listen. He kept his worries to himself, hoping Kabuto was decent enough of a guy when it came to girls.

“Can you get me some water from the kitchen?” Neji requested.

“Sure thing.”

Careful not to smack his injured arm into someone, he made his way through the crowd, smiling when he saw someone he knew. He did not really know where the kitchen was, so he tried random doors (some of them he regretted opening) and was relieved when he finally found the kitchen. Deidara was not there, however, he saw a familiar pale arm reaching for the fridge.

“Sai,” he greeted, eyes wandering around. “I didn’t know you’d come. How’re you?”

He noticed the small chocolate chip cookies placed on the island standing in the middle of the room, so he shoved one inside his mouth.

Sai did not seem surprised, or happy to see him. He did not seem sad either, treating Naruto like a kitchen utensil, as if he found his presence too natural to react. “I’m good.”

“Enjoying the party?” He reached for another cookie. “Hey, is there any soda in there?”

“No.” He closed the fridge door and uncapped the bottle of milk before drinking some directly. “What’s wrong with your arm?”

“Heh. I sprained it during practice.” The countertop was vibrating from the bass of the music.

Sai’s eyes wandered on the bandage before he put the milk back. “Too bad.”

“Are you a friend of Deidara?” He asked, just to make conversation.

He had not expected Sai to say yes.

“He’s my boyfriend.”

Naruto stopped chewing the third cookie, blankly staring at Sai. When the silence lasted too long, he forcibly shook himself out of the stupor he was in. “Oh.”

“Don’t be surprised. We met at the art club two years ago.” He leaned against the counter. “It was an open relationship at first. We were both fine with it, really. The sex was good, maybe not the best at first, but things got way better when he—”

Naruto cut him. “Sai! Too much information!”

Sai looked disappointed. “You really have a phobia of dicks, dickless.”

The nickname made him want to cringe, but he did not give it away, “I don’t, Sai. Go write a blog if you’re so eager to talk about your sex life. By the way, do you know where Deidara is?”

“He went upstairs to put on lipstick, but he should be back by now.” He urged Naruto in the direction of the door. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

Eagerly, he followed Sai out. Neji could wait a little more for his water.

* * *

It was exciting for some reason to be face to face with Deidara. Sure, Naruto had heard his name once or twice in some of the well-known incidents of the school, including the mysterious explosion of a bunch of tubes in the Chemistry lab (which had been the main reason why Naruto had thought it was cool and taken Chemistry in the first place, but nobody had been crazy enough to do something like that then). Yet, he did not recall ever seeing him up close, especially with makeup on, or out of day-to-day clothes that would not break the dress code of their school.

The borderline drag queen outfit he had on was tight enough to show off every curve and crevice of his frame. The mint blue, zebra-patterned bodysuit hid most of his skin - becoming a new one instead. The color instantly brought out his eyes for the colors were identical. He had finalized the look with a pale pink lip-gloss, which Sai seemed to find fairly attractive as he leaned down to steal a kiss every now and then.

The group of close friends that kept them company aside, his buddies from all around the school, from first graders to fourth graders came up to say hi, offer a drink or ask where the toilet is. Naruto was amazed at Deidara’s connections, and he liked to call himself a social butterfly. Compared to him, Naruto felt pretty drawn to his own circle of people.

Even though it was his first time conversing with most of them, he felt pretty relaxed, finding amusement in the drunken stutter of Konan, one of the pretty friends of Deidara. Despite the music, he heard everything clearly without a problem, standing next to Kimimaro, who also happened to be in the basketball club, so it was a wonderful chance to get to know him better as well. All in all, the party was a great opportunity for Naruto to talk to people he did not have a chance to before.

Konan downed her drink in one go, which had just been replenished a minute ago. “This song’s _the shit_ .” She was referring to Pitbull's _Hotel Room Service_ , playing randomly from a playlist Deidara had left on. Naruto thought it was, well, not the greatest song on the planet. But he fathomed anything could sound like _the shit_ to a drunk person.

Deidara hummed, a constant tendency Naruto had noticed. Sai had a hand on the blond boy’s waist. “Naruto, tell me. Do you use anything special for your hair? It looks so soft.” To confirm his thought, he stirred Naruto’s hair with deft fingers.

“Nothing special, I just shampoo it,” he explained, grabbing hold of a lock to see for himself. “Yours seem much softer honestly.”

“Ahh, thank you. I’m flattered!” Deidara laughed loudly. As he fixed his hair, drawn into a half ponytail with the rest hanging down freely, he seemed anything but modest, proud of his appearance that he had undoubtedly worked hard on. “I soak it in coconut oil twice a week. Sometimes I apply a mixture of argan oil and sweet almond oil when I’m bored, it works wonders. Also, never brush hair when it's wet, you’ll get split ends. I have good hair genes so I’m lucky, hmmm.”

Naruto gave a nod, not able to take his eyes off of Deidara’s hair now that he had mentioned it so many times. It looked healthy indeed. “I don’t know if I’d be able to take care of my hair that much. Seems like a lot of work to do.”

“Your hair’s short, so you’ll get away with little care. If you ever decide to grow it out, or color it, find me,” he suggested. “I dye Konan’s hair. These hands are skilled at so many things.” He turned to Sai and winked, licking his lips seductively. Lucky for them, Sai settled with only making bedroom eyes at him, but nevertheless, he took Deidara’s glass of cocktail and put it aside on a cabinet nearby to stop him from drinking any further.

Konan was keen to show off her shiny purple hair, the shade getting lighter as it inched toward the ends. Naruto could never have guessed Deidara was the one who made it. “Are you sure you’re not a professional hairstylist?”

Giggling, Deidara grabbed for his phone. The music had stopped a while ago, and there were disgruntled complaints. “I could be one if I wanted to. I have other plans for myself.”

“He’s too short-tempered, it would never work out,” Kimimaro observed.

It was hard not to notice how much effort everyone had put into their clothing. Even Sai looked different. Internally, he felt grateful to Sakura for choosing an outfit for him. Not to blow his own horn, but he would say he looked pretty nice: the light blue collars of his shirt showed under the beige V-neck sweater, and they had been paired with dark jeans and dark khaki boots. The expensive watch that once had belonged to his dad added a refined taste to everything. He was not used to going out with that sort of clothes, but seeing how confident he felt in them, he considered maybe laying his sweatshirts off for a while.

Sai had pushed his hands into his pockets, tapping his toes into the fluffy carpet they stood on. “I wanna dance.”

Naruto looked around for his friends upon hearing that. It had been easy to spot Sakura near a wall, talking to Neji, who seemed to have sobered enough to stand up. The night had just begun for others, though.

“I wish I could drink,” the words spilled out of his mouth.

“Why? What’s up?” Kimimaro asked as he checked his makeup in a small pocket mirror. Somebody from behind knocked against him as he did, and he nearly poked his eye, cursing a little before he removed the mirror.

Naruto checked if he was okay before explaining. “My wrist. I took Paracetamol to numb the pain.”

“Ohh, you should be fine with a drink if it’s only Paracetamol,” Konan waved a hand in dismissal. “Just don’t go overboard. Trust me. My folks run a pharmacy.”

“…Okay,” he hesitantly said. “Wait, you’re not drunk, are you?”

Deidara rested against Sai. He was taller than his boyfriend by a few inches. “She is, but it must be true. Do you have anything to drink? Sai brought an entire crate of beer.”

Wondering what sort of parents Sai had, Naruto accepted the freshly opened bottle of beer pushed into his hand.

“What should I play now? Black Eyed Peas?”

Sai smiled wide. “Love Will Tear Us Apart?”

Kimimaro rolled his eyes, and Konan laughed so hard that a lone tear escaped her eye. Naruto felt like he had missed an inside joke. “Ugh. Don’t make me laugh, I’ll throw up,” she said with difficulty. Sai disappeared for a second to get her a chair.

Suddenly he remembered the song he wanted to dance to. “Can I request something?”

“Sure. Anything. As long as it’s not boring.”

“No. It’s not.” They found the track on Deidara’s phone, and before he pressed play, Naruto announced, “Thanks, I’m gonna check on my friends. I wanna dance to this.”

“Come back anytime, dickless,” Sai said.

A few seconds later, the music started coming out of the speakers. Leaving his beer somewhere, Naruto made a thumbs-up motion with his good hand, running off to find someone to dance with while the others paired within the group.

Karin was nowhere to be found, and Hinata was dancing with Kiba already. As a last resort, he walked over to where Sakura and Neji were sitting. “Sakura!”

She looked up at Naruto with inquiring eyes. “Yeah?”

“Dance with me! Please?” He extended his hand.

Normally, Sakura was the type to dance only to romantic, slow songs. Somehow, she accepted the hand after considering the proposal for a moment, muttering something to Neji before standing up.

Neji gave them a disapproving look. “You didn’t bring me water.”

“Sorry! I forgot,” he said – it was not entirely a lie. “You wanna join?”

“No, thank you.”

They were already making their way to the middle of the crowd. The lights had dimmed already, the atmosphere resembled a night club more than a house now – Deidara really knew how to throw a solid party.

_“Common love isn't for us_

_We created something phenomenal_

_Don't you agree?_

_Don't you agree”_

Now, in Naruto’s opinion, _this_ was the shit. His dance moves were restricted by the splint, although elastic it was, it still limited the amount he could move his hand. Instead of his random, and slightly insane dance moves, he threw his hands up in the air and started to shake them to the beat.

Sakura was guffawing, maybe for the first time that night. She did not dare to make ridiculous moves for Naruto’s were enough to make both of them look stupid enough. “Stop, you’re gonna make your wrist worse!” She said between hearty giggles.

Instead of responding verbally, Naruto boldly placed his hands on Sakura’s hips, flashing a toothy grin. “You’re so thoughtful, Sakura,” he yelled as he leaned in.

He felt hands creep up to his shoulders. “Don’t get too cocky.”

They rocked from side to side, swaying their hips constantly.

_“Lights out and follow the noise_

_Baby keep on dancing like you ain't got a choice_

_So come on, come on, come on_

_Let's get physical”_

“Whoa!” Naruto shouted, not even pausing in his movements when they got too close to the other couples. By the end of the song, they had spent a considerable amount of energy, but he felt like it was worth every second of it.

Sakura also seemed like she had utterly enjoyed it. “Wow. It was better than I expected,” she said as she fanned her face with her hands.

“Next time I dance with you, we’ll have complementing rings on our hands,” he made use of the temporary quiet and impishly whispered in her ear.

“I would hit you, but you’ve already been injured enough for the day. I’ll save it for another time,” she responded, unable to stop herself from smiling. She gave Naruto a touch on the arm before returning to where she had been sitting. Naruto wished Neji would be willing to dance with him to the next song, but he was the sit-and-enjoy type. It would be cruel to force him.

His eyes searched the crowd. It was quite effortless to catch a glimpse of Deidara and his gang. He strolled over to their previous spot to find his beer, but it was not there anymore, and he had not seen any beer in the kitchen either. The stash was somewhere upstairs, probably, so he thought it would be best to ask Sai first.

Before he could reach their side, he ran across Kiba who held Hinata, looking perturbed. The girl looked rather intoxicated, clinging to Kiba’s arms. Her words came out slurry. “Oh, ‘s Nar’to.”

“Hi,” he feigned a smile. Hinata was not in the condition to have a conversation, but she made it clear that she wanted to, and it would be plain awkward to pass them by without saying anything else, so he stayed. “Are you guys havin’ fun?”

“Uhh. Yeah.” Kiba clumsily answered back. “It’s pretty chill here.”

“I love danc’n. I love danc’n.” Hinata repeated to herself.

Naruto scratched the nape of his neck, not sure about what would be the appropriate thing to say. Kiba didn’t seem keen on speaking much, gawking at other places rather than his friend’s face. 

“Good to hear that. I’m just gonna… go, yeah. Have fun,” he ended up muttering.

He hastily walked past them, taking a deep breath of relief when he saw Konan, sipping on a bottle of water in a chair, head resting up against the wall. Her spot was far from any of the speakers, relatively peaceful compared to the rest of the room. The others were nowhere to be seen. “Yo,” she made something that could be classified as a small sneer. “Did you dance?”

“I did. It was awesome,” he replied, taking the spot next to her, only without a chair.

“Good, good,” she breathed out. “Who did you dance with? Your girlfriend?”

Naruto gave a small chuckle. “I wish. We’re not dating, though. She has her eyes on someone else.”

“Poor thing,” her lower lip protruded. “I would’ve danced with you if I knew. I thought you had a girlfriend.”

“Aww. Maybe next time,” he laughed, “when you feel better. The night’s not over yet, am I right?”

Konan looked up into his eyes. “True. I already like you, Naruto. How come Sai didn’t introduce us before?”

“We didn’t really talk before. Until a while ago.”

“How come?”

“I don’t know. I barely knew him before we became a team in Japanese,” he explained, tapping his foot along with the rhythm of the song playing that immediately transformed the place to an 80s discotheque. “It was a little hard for me to talk to him at first. Got used to it pretty quick, though.”

“He’s unusual. But aren’t we all?”

“In a way, I guess. You two met through Deidara?”

Konan took a moment to evoke her memories. “I think we knew each other before they started dating. The art club was pretty favored back then.”

“Wait—” Naruto tore his eyes from the crowd and looked down at her in forged disbelief. “You were in the club as well? Jesus, it’s like the only person who hasn’t ever joined is me!”

“Huh. Probably.” She shrugged. “Just kidding. I really did meet both of them there though.”

“Why did you guys quit?”

“Because it became boring. The main characteristic of the art club of our school is that it’s run by students. We were free to do whatever we wanted as long as we put forward some good quality material every once in a while.”

Come to think of it, Naruto did not remember seeing or hearing about a teacher when he had visited the art room the other day. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“One of us was in charge each week, to take attendance and make sure everything was on track. I learned a lot in that club, really. I like Papier-mâché, we did a lot of stuff with Deidara. I learned a little Origami from Sai.” She sighed, putting her bottle aside. “I really liked that club.”

Naruto’s interest was piqued. He impatiently asked, “What happened?”

“One day they told us we needed to do one specific activity every week, and the list they gave us was boring as fuck. I gave it a try, but the creativity in me died down pretty soon so I quit. Others followed later. Only Sai refused to quit because he liked the luxury of using the art room whenever he pleased, but yeah.”

“Shit. That sucks!” He said, feeling sorry that such a creative place had turned into the dull scene he had seen.

From the side, he saw others approaching, Sai holding Deidara by the arms, and Kabuto had joined them as well. “Feeling any better, Konan?” Deidara asked, failing to suppress a hiccup.

Konan slowly stood up, testing the waters. She seemed able to keep her balance now. “Much better.”

“Good.”

Kabuto patted Naruto’s shoulder. “How’s your wrist?”

He grinned, feeling acknowledged. “It’s doin’ alright. I’m on painkillers.”

“Hmm. I hope it heals soon. You learn pretty quick, it would be a waste if you missed practice.”

Naruto readily confirmed that while Sai made his signature smile. “What were you two talking about?”

“Oh, I was telling Naruto about the club,” Konan said.

Sai’s expression did not change. “Really, now?”

Naruto pushed himself off of the wall. “Hey, Sai, you’re preparing for a contest now, yeah? How’s it?”

“Not bad. I barely started, though. When did I tell you about that?”

“Not you, Sasuke did. I paid a visit to the art room yesterday. Or was it the day before? Anyway. I was lookin’ for Gai and there were sounds coming from there so I checked.”

Sai determinedly kept Deidara in place, who looked ready to stagger and fall any minute as he blabbered on about doing squats to Kabuto. “Everyone in the club is either first or second year now except for the two of us. How was he handling the brats?”

“Uhh. I don’t know. He was okay, I guess.” He pondered why Sasuke had stayed, knowing that he would pretty much have to babysit.

Konan’s arm snaked around Naruto’s shoulders. Her perfume smelled similar to Sakura, which made his heart skip a beat. “I haven’t seen Mr. Grumpy in a while.”

“You haven’t missed much,” Sai said.

“How come he missed a party with booze anyway?”

Naruto darted out his tongue to moisture his lips. “Sasuke likes parties?”

“Possibly. It could be for the sake of alcohol. Or weed. Deidara, we don’t have weed, do we?” Konan asked, but she did not get a reply. “There’s no way no one in this party has weed.”

“Naruto?”

Behind Kabuto, there was Kiba, eyes narrowed down to slits to see in the dim light. Naruto felt his stomach do a flip. Hinata did not seem to be around, which was a surprise. “…Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” Kiba yelled from the other side. He gave a confused look to Konan, who shrugged and pulled off her arm, saying she needed to use the toilet before cautiously walking away.

Naruto’s hands felt cold despite the warm temperature. Nobody seemed to notice Kiba’s presence except for Sai, and he watched uncaringly as Naruto walked away, following Kiba out of the crowd and past the threshold of the front door to the house.

Chills ran down his spine, the blowing wind stirring something inside. He had been numbed by the noise and the lights indoors. It felt like awakening from a dream to step outside into fresh air.

“What’s up?” His voice was coarse.

Kiba was facing the empty alleyway, arms crossed and hands pressed under his armpits. He gave a slight shiver before he turned around. “Uhh. Look, Nards—” he cut himself. “ _Naruto_. Sorry I interrupted you there. I just wanted to… talk.”

He frowned. “About what?” His breath made a white cloud in the air.

“Whatever’s goin’ on between us. I want it to stop. It’s stupid. I wanna get back to the way we were, y’know?” He looked agitated. “It feels weird.”

“I think you’re missing a point here,” Naruto said, not sure if his tremors were because of the cold or his anxiety anymore. “You kept ditching me. When I complained, you ignored me. Is that what friends do, Kiba? You tell me.”

“Look, man,” Kiba huffed out, unable to look Naruto straight in the eye. “I know. I just… didn’t know what to do when you said you don’t wanna talk to me anymore.”

“I never told you that. I just said I needed time to think.”

Kiba was chewing on his bottom lip. “You did. I’m sorry. I really am. I’m an idiot.”

He stared. Why had Kiba chosen this time for such a conversation? “Are you drunk?”

“What?” He looked startled. “No! I’m barely tipsy, man. It’s not the alcohol talking. These are my real thoughts!” He took a short walk around, coming back and facing Naruto. “I really don’t wanna lose my best friend.”

“Me neither,” Naruto confessed, “But I have a limit, Kiba. You can’t do whatever you please and expect me to be fine with it. I have feelings, too.”

Kiba took an extra step forward, bringing them closer. “Of course you do! I’ll do anything you want, please.”

For a few seconds, Naruto looked at him, then sighed out loud. He knew Kiba was sincere. He knew him enough to know when he faked, not that he was very good at it anyway. He did not particularly enjoy being apart from Kiba as well – they always had fun together. Always. And he missed it. Was this all worth losing a friendship over? He could hope that Kiba had fixed himself. He could give him another chance, he deserved it just like anybody else would.

“Fine,” he ended up saying, and the instant the word slipped out of his mouth, Kiba jumped him like a crazy person, hugging him enough to break a few ribs.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“Kiba!” Naruto chuckled… he had missed this. Kiba’s energy was high as always, raising his own spirits. He wrapped his own arms around his friend. “I can’t breathe!”

“I don’t care! I missed you.” When he pulled back, Naruto saw Kiba’s eyes were watering, and it spurred something inside that made himself tear up slightly.

He then punched Kiba’s shoulder, which earned him a few profanities, but he couldn’t care less. “What made you change your mind, huh? You hit your head somewhere?”

The boy looked slightly abashed as he talked. “Err. I got a kick in the butt by Sakura, actually. I think I needed that, though.”

“Sakura, huh.” He gave a psychotic grin. “I hope she kicked you _somewhere_ _else_ as well.”

“Thank fuck, no,” Kiba laughed. “Anyway. Shall we head inside? It’s cold here. Who were the guys you were hanging with? And that purple girl? She seemed into you. What’s her name?”

He answered Kiba’s never-ending questions as he walked inside, feeling rejuvenated and serene now that the situation was settled.


	5. Multitasking

Unlike Friday, Naruto’s weekend elapsed relatively calmly, spending Saturday with Kiba after a long time to make up for lost time and Sunday with Kushina, baking several kinds of cookies together to see which co-worker of hers had the best recipe.

Somehow, he had fallen asleep quite early on Sunday, so he had plenty of time to get ready in the morning and hit the road. He got go-to coffee at a nearby shop before heading to school. No one he knew was around, so he went straight for the classroom after dropping his things off at his locker.

In the vacant classroom, the thick curtains had been left closed, and it made the air glum. Naruto laid his coffee and papers on one of the front row desks, then proceeded to draw the curtains open. The sunlight dashed in, temporarily making his eyes water, but he felt much better.

Until the class started, he idly sipped his drink and checked his social media. The students had mostly gathered by then, and soon enough Itachi walked in behind Sasuke, who sat down simply next to Naruto.

“Good morning,” Naruto said. Sasuke really did not seem like a morning person. His appearance looked decent enough, he evidently had not come straight out of bed, although his face suggested he was still sleeping internally. He looked almost startled when Naruto spoke.

“Morning.”

He watched Sasuke arrange his notebook and sheets for the class, put his pencil on top of them, and lean back with an exhale.

Itachi had already started writing on the board without greeting them. It felt odd, Itachi usually brought up some sort of conversation, or even ask how their weekend was on Monday class.

No one said a word, and when Naruto peeped around, he saw Shikamaru and Shino taking notes while the others blankly gawked at the board.

“Verbs,” Itachi announced when he finally finished and turned around. “We’ll study verbs this week. I already handed you the sheets, so please find the relevant one.”

Naruto looked at his sheets. They were incredibly disorganized as he had never bothered to put them in order before. When he glanced at Sasuke’s, he found out that the other had stapled the papers chapter by chapter.

He pointlessly sorted through his own for a while, not actually paying attention. “Can I look? I can’t find mine,” he whispered finally.

Sasuke seemed to take the bait. He did take a glance at Naruto’s desk first in horror before placing the stack of papers in a way Naruto could also see. “How can you live like that?”

“It’s not terrible. Requires leisure to find stuff, though.”

“The rules to negate verbs are simple enough if you pay attention. We have three categories,  _ iru-eru _ ending verbs, other verbs, and exceptions.” He pointed at the table he had drawn. “First off,  _ iru-eru _ endings. We already know  _ taberu _ means to eat. If we want to negate it, all we have to do it take out the  _ ru _ at the end and add  _ nai _ .” He wrote  _ tabenai _ in hiragana. “That goes for all  _ iru-eru _ endings.”

“What happened to your arm?”

Distracted, he turned to Sasuke. “I sprained it during practice.”

“Practice? What practice?”

“Basketball,” he muttered, eyes on Itachi, head tilted to the side. “I joined the basketball club.”

“Hmm.”

Out of the blue, he found himself eye to eye with Itachi. “Naruto. Negate  _ matsu _ .”

_ “Matsu?” _ he repeated. “Err. It means to wait, right?”

“Yes.”

He checked the board for some clue, but it was difficult to catch anything under the penetrating gaze of his teacher. “Is it  _ matsunai _ ?”

Itachi unclenched his jaw. “Do you think it is?”

“No. I don’t know how to negate it. Sorry.” He felt his muscles tense.

“Because you haven’t been listening,” Itachi revealed. “Sasuke, maybe you’d like to do it?”

Sasuke was quick to reply. “No.”

The board marker Itachi had been holding slipped out of his hand and hit the ground with a thud. He shot it a frustrated look before kneeling down to pick it up. “You’d know we didn’t see other endings yet if you were paying attention. Take your conversation outside. I mean it. You’re interrupting my class.”

Naruto looked at Sasuke from the corner of his eye to check, not sure if Itachi was just warning them or actually telling them to leave.

He didn’t need to wait for long to find the answer as Itachi repeated once more. “Go outside, you two. Right now. I’m not joking.” He then proceeded to explain something else that Naruto was too on edge to understand. It was true that Itachi didn’t like noise in his class, but Naruto did not remember ever seeing him this cross about a few whispered words.

Sasuke bolted from his seat as if he had been waiting for the chance. He strolled across the room, hands in his pockets like he was taking a walk in a park, and opened the door. Before he stepped outside, he looked back at Itachi with a wicked smirk. “It’s  _ matanai _ .”

Scumbag. He had studied ahead of the class.

Itachi stopped midstream to give Sasuke the most infuriated glare Naruto had ever witnessed on him. Things could get nasty if he stayed in spite of Itachi’s order, so he immediately followed Sasuke outside and shut the door as quietly as he could.

“Why the heck did you do that?!” He whisper-shouted at Sasuke, who looked tranquil enough with his back touching the wall, eyes closed and lips quirked up.

“Who knows.”

He couldn’t believe how reckless Sasuke was being. “Aren’t you taking this a little too far?”

“No.”

“He could get us  _ expelled _ .”

Sasuke’s eyes fluttered open. “No one’s getting anyone expelled. Besides, we’re not technically guilty of anything. Talking in class is not a valid reason to expel someone.”

“No,” Naruto hissed. “You’re just doing this to rile Itachi up, aren’t you.”

“Obviously. I thought you knew.” He gave a nasty leer. “Maybe you’re just dumber than I thought.”

Naruto felt his blood heat up. He felt betrayed and let down for various reasons – for starters, they had been getting along with Sasuke just fine. He had admitted that he was being prejudiced toward the other, and was actually starting to warm up to him. 

Then, in an instant, Sasuke was back to his bastard-ish self like a button had been pressed to delete everything else in his existence – and no, this side of him was very much real, unlike Sakura’s assertions.

“Why are you insulting  _ me _ all of a sudden when it’s actually Itachi whom you’re mad at?” He raised his voice.

Sasuke tch’ed, turning away from Naruto. “Shut up.”

“You… bastard.” He stood right before Sasuke and waved a bandaged hand in his face. “Snap the fuck out of it, will you?”

“Stop it,” Sasuke grouchily directed, blinking multiple times, only for Naruto to wave his hand faster.

Aggravating Sasuke further didn’t extinguish the anger within himself, but he was not going to let Sasuke be an asshole and get away with it.

“Seriously,  _ stop _ .” It was giving Naruto some sort of peculiar ecstasy to see Sasuke’s face all scrunched up in irritation. When Sasuke slapped his hand away, he made a small whine of pain, but instead of giving up, he changed to his good hand.

“Apologize first,” he made a proposal. “Then I’ll stop.” He temporarily halted to let Sasuke decide.

Sasuke was frowning at him, eyes narrowed down. “Why are you so upset over a word?”

“It’s not the word, it’s your attitude that’s pissin’ me off.”

The door to the class swung open in their direction, an exasperated Itachi following suit. He pushed it closed behind himself. “Did I send you two here so you could quarrel?”

“He started it!” Naruto argued, pointing at Sasuke.

“I don’t care. You’re not in kindergarten, you should know better, Naruto.” He had his hands on his hips. “And you, Sasuke. How many times do I have to warn you? Are you mentally five or just blatantly ignorant?”

Naruto mentally thanked Itachi since Sasuke seemed noticeably offended. “I didn’t do anything.”

“We’re not bringing family drama here.”

When Naruto’s eyes wandered down, he noticed that Itachi’s hands were trembling ever so slightly. He seemed more disturbed than angry, probably because of the noise and interruptions, but then his eyes were a little out of focus as well. He gave the impression of an immensely fatigued man.

Cautiously, he asked, trying hard not to sound impolite. “Umm… Are you okay, Itachi? I mean, your health.” He added when Itachi gave him a confused stare. “You look tired out.”

Sasuke, of course, couldn’t help but cut in. “Figures. He was up all night working.”

Itachi looked into Sasuke’s eyes long and hard, so much that Naruto felt uncomfortable being there, like he was interfering with family business. Sasuke didn’t seem the type to yield under such treatment, but Itachi stood his ground until the scene got painfully wearisome.

“Hn.” He averted his gaze to Naruto’s arm. “Put some ice on that.” With that, Sasuke went back into the classroom.

He felt baffled. Angry, but… not really. His disappointment had turned into a feeling that this was just another part of Sasuke. When a topic he was sensitive about was brought up, he acted up. Wasn’t that natural? Everybody had a dark side, just like that Kelly Clarkson song said. It made sense. 

“What a weirdo,” he breathed out.

Itachi was smiling vaguely. “Oh,  _ I know _ . You seem to be dealing fine with him, though.”

“You think?”

With a nod, gave Naruto a little flick on the cheek: an offer of gratitude. “Thanks for asking about me.”

He moved away from Itachi’s fingers in pain, but ended up letting out a laugh. “No problem.”

“We wasted so much time because of you brats,” he said, a teasing edge to his voice. He gestured to Naruto to go inside with his head. “Come on.”

“ _ Arigatou, sensei!” _

For the rest of the class, Sasuke kept his mouth shut. Naruto showed similar behavior except for class participation. He still followed the class through Sasuke’s sheets, who didn’t seem opposed. When the bell finally rang, he could have sworn that he saw Itachi exhale a breath of relief.

Before anybody could leave the classroom, someone barged in, grinning like a maniac and waving his hands. “Nards!!”

It took a second for Naruto to realize that it was just Kiba. Itachi didn’t look pleased at all, standing up and crossing his arms. “Since when do you freely interrupt classes, Inuzuka? Does this look like a party you can crash?”

Kiba blushed a little. “Uhh. I think it’s more like a tiny prison in here.” He hastily added an explanation, “The bell’s gonna ring any second.”

“Hey,” Naruto greeted his friend. “What’re you doing here?”

However, Itachi was not done yet. “Your lack of courtesy aside, I’ve heard you chose another path in language. Do you speak Spanish yet by any chance?”

“Nope. Not one bit,” he nervously chuckled. “I wish you taught us. The old hag speaks so slow that I doze off. It’s  _ unbearable _ .”

“Too bad,” Itachi shook his head. “I don’t speak Spanish.”

“Can’t you learn it?” He seemed dead serious.

“What are you saying, Kibaaa!” Naruto smacked Kiba’s head.

He laughed ridiculously loud. “Pick your things up. I’m starvin’.”

As Naruto walked back to his deck to get his belongings, Kiba pursued him, spitting random things with a loud voice. He ended up face to face with a bothered Sasuke giving him a look.

“Uhh.” He poked Naruto with his arm, not taking his eyes off Sasuke. “What’s his problem? And why is he sitting with you?”

Naruto scratched his head. “We’re a team, actually.”

“Team? What team?”

“For class activities.” Sasuke was now looking at Naruto. “…What?”

Sasuke uncrossed his legs and stood up, face stoic. “Nothing. See you later.”

“Yeah. Later.”

Kiba watched Sasuke leave with prying eyes. “Is he okay?”

He deliberately didn’t look at Sasuke’s leaving figure. “How should I know?”

“He’s weird.”

“Mhm. C’mon. Bye, Itachi.”

“Bye. And Naruto, reorganize your sheets, will you? We’ll have a reading session on Thursday.”

* * *

Kiba had agreed to go to the clinic together after school for Naruto’s check-up. The plan was to get done with it quickly and meet with the others at Hinata’s place, since Hinata’s father had been keeping a watchful eye on the girl ever since the party. They had not calculated the long queue at the clinic.

The sky was getting dark by the time they arrived at the Hyuuga mansion. Kiba knew the pin code for the gate like the back of his hand, and after greeting the housekeeper lady who opened the door for them, they made their way to Hinata’s room where everyone was gathered, eating pizza and watching The Late Late Show on a broad TV screen mounted to the wall.

“Where were you?” Karin questioned as she bit at a particularly large piece of pepperoni pizza.

“Since when do you eat carbs?” Naruto ignored the question as he dropped his bag and found a place between Neji and Hinata’s little sister Hanabi on the cushions they had laid out on the floor, reaching for a plate after finding a comfortable position for his legs. “Hi, Hanabi. I haven’t seen you in ages.”

The little girl gave a wiggle to sit more snugly. “Hi. Is your arm okay?”

“They said I probably moved it around too much because it’s taking longer to heal than it’s supposed to. But I’m free of bandages now.” The image of Sasuke telling him to ice it flashed before his eyes, which was another advice the doctor had given, but he was quick to discard it.

Sakura put out two glasses for them. “What do you want? Soda or iced tea?”

Kiba spoke with his mouth full. “Soda.”

“Soda is fine. Thanks, Sakura.”

Hanabi took the glass from Sakura and put it in front of Naruto. “I can ask for some ice if it hurts.”

“Uh. It doesn’t really hurt much anymore. You think it’ll help?”

Hinata chimed in. “Actually, it’s a good idea. I’m sure it must be helpful in some way. Go get some, will you, Hanabi?”

The younger girl left the room, taking along dirty plates to the kitchen.

“She’s grown,” Sakura commented with a proud smile. “What grade is she in again?”

“Eighth,” Hinata replied.

Neji took a break from soundlessly watching the TV. “They grow up so fast. I remember the day she was born.”

Karin pouted. “That’s cool. I wish I had a sister.”

“You’re stuck with me, sorry,” Naruto said. “At least we get along. Mom says Dad’s side of the family was a hot mess.”

“Really? They must be really different from Minato, then. But we’re not exactly lawful either. Every Uzumaki gets called habanero at least once in their lifetime. Too bad you’re blond – now you’re just plain  _ crazy _ .”

“I didn’t choose it, alright?” He sipped at his soda. “And I’m not crazy. Just a little excited.”

“I think you look cute with blond hair, if that’s any consolation,” Lee offered a big grin - he probably did it with the intention of looking cute and calming, but he ended up coming across as a little spooky.

“Thank you, but I’d wanna see myself with flamin’ red hair once. Maybe I should get it dyed.”

“No,” Sakura argued, leaning back against Hinata’s bed. “Don’t. You’ll regret it. I have to get mine done every three weeks to maintain a good color or I look like stale cotton candy.”

“No way!” He laughed heartily. “Oh. Now that you mentioned it, Deidara’s good at dying hair, apparently.”

Kiba seemed deep in thought. “Hmm. You think he can dye mine green?”

He received a disapproving smack on the leg from Hinata. Soon, Hanabi came back with a gel ice pack and handed it to Naruto. He put it on the now unbandaged area, hissing with the freezing sensation on his skin.

Lee sat up and stretched his back. The show was over. “What should we do now?”

“We have Monopoly if you want to play. Or Taboo.”

“I’m not in the mood for that,” said Sakura.

“Yeah. Me neither.”

“What do we do then?” Neji raised a brow. “Truth or dare?”

He sounded condescending enough for anybody to pick up the joking undertone, but the others started looking at each other as if they wanted to play, but were too proud to admit it. Neji rolled his eyes in scorn, but said no words of protest. Deep inside, he wanted it too, Naruto knew it.

Hanabi spoke up when no one else did. “I haven’t played truth or dare before.”

As if on cue, Karin patted the girl’s back. “No way! You can’t live like this. We’re gonna change your life today, Hanabi.”

Hinata seemed a little timid. “Are you sure it’s okay for her to play?”

“We’ll set up rules,” Kiba said. “So there won’t be anything explicitly sexual.”

“Where’s the fun in that?!” Karin protested.

It was going to be difficult with a thirteen-year-old in the group to play it the fun way, but Naruto agreed with Karin. They were not children, asking each other if they ever tasted booger or peed themselves was no longer fun. Might as well watch another show rather than doing that.

“Okay, here’s the deal then,” Neji stood up. “Dares won’t involve anything below the waist, and as long as we keep Hanabi out of the dirty questions, it should be fine.”

Karin seconded him. “She’s not five.”

“Yeah! I don’t mind hearing  _ that _ sort of stuff!” Hanabi said. She had a slight blush on her cheeks, which was incredibly cute to Naruto. Hanabi was truly like a little sister to him, just like Hinata. He teasingly winked at the girl while no one else looked, and received a stuck-out tongue with her facial features wrinkled.

Only Hinata still had reservations about Hinata being involved in the game, since the others did not really mind either way.

Sakura and Lee looked up for questions online while the others sat on the floor with the cushions put away. The half-full, plastic soda bottle was put in the middle of the circle they formed, ready to be turned.

“Okay, the questions are here. Who wants to start?” Sakura put her phone on the ground, ready to pass it to whoever was going to ask the first question. “Do you want to start, Hanabi?”

The girl looked at Sakura tensely. “Should I spin the bottle?”

“Yup. Go ahead.”

She grabbed for the bottle with a small, pale hand and gave it a small spin. The bottle cap pointed at Neji while the base was right in front of Karin.

Neji gave Karin a glare. “I can’t believe I’m your first victim.”

“What am I, a witch?” Karin reached for Sakura’s phone. She scrolled through the page for a short while. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“Here’s your dare, then,” she smirked. “ _ Call a random guy and flirt with him in a girly voice.” _

Hanabi started giggling, clinging to Hinata’s arm. Naruto found the expression on Neji’s helpless face priceless.

“Who do I call?” He breathed out, snatching the phone from Karin’s hand, who was already in a laughing fit.

“That’s my phone,” Sakura protested, but Neji was already going through his contacts.

“Hmm. Shikamaru?”

“Do whatever you want. Just don’t use my number. He has me in his contacts.”

It was quite the shock when Hanabi pushed her own phone into Neji’s hands. “No one in your school has me in their contacts. Use mine.”

“Whoa. You’re a brave one, unlike your cousin,” Karin clapped her hands.

Neji ignored the brusque girl and typed in the number, putting it in speaker mode. A few moments later, Shikamaru picked up the phone.  _ “Hello?” _

“Uh. Hello, is this Shikamaru?” Neji shrieked, a sound too unrealistic and ominous. Naruto would never have imagined the voice he heard to come out of Neji’s mouth. It was far from girly in his opinion, but it was way too fun. He immediately bit on his fist to stop himself from laughing out loud and ruining the entire thing.

There was a pause on Shikamaru’s side.  _ “…Who’s this?” _

“Nevermind that, now. You see, I’ve had my eyes on you for a while,” Neji continued. “I was wondering if we could go on a blind date.”

_ “…A blind date?” _ Shikamaru repeated.  _ “Okay, is this some sort of prank? I’m hanging up.” _

“You cruel man! Are you making fun of my feelings?!”

No reply. Neji checked if the line had dropped, but it hadn’t.

“You’ll be the king and I’ll be your queen.”

Still no reply.

“What about rook? Bishop would work, too.”

There were some beeps after that, indicating that Shikamaru had finally hung up. Karin was laughing, but that didn’t save Neji from the mockery. “Chess references? Really? If that’s how you flirt in real life, you’ll die alone.”

“No. Just drop it, Karin, you don’t know what you’re saying,” he retorted, giving the phones back to their owners. He reached for the bottle, effectively spinning it.

It was Lee against Naruto now. “Truth or dare, Naruto?”

Naruto went with his gut and chose truth. Lee fumbled with Sakura’s phone until he found a question he was satisfied with. “Name one thing you would change about each person in this room.”

A roar rose in the room, excited faces turned to him. Naruto combed his hair with a hand, wishing he had chosen dare instead, but he did not really trust Lee with that either. Lee was like an innocent-looking sly caterpillar, waiting for Naruto to start talking as he wiggled his bushy brows.

“Alrighty. I’ll just go around the circle then,” he said, starting from the person on his right. “No offense, in advance. Neji, I’d change your eye color to somethin’ warmer. It’s a little creepy when it mixes with your cold stares. Hanabi, the only thing I’d change about you is your age, honestly—”

Neji cut him off with a whack, but Hanabi was giggling.

“Ouch. Why’s everyone hitting me?” He rubbed at his sore knee. “Hinata, I’d make you able to show your personality more. Not that I have any problems with the way you are, obviously. I just know that you’re a little different on the inside. More independent.”

Kiba looked at Hinata, who refused eye contact, staring at the ground.

“Kiba. I love you, but you’re a mutt,” he chuckled, “I wish I could spare you some of the extra awesomeness I have.”

“Next!” Kiba yelled.

“Heh. Sakura. I’d make you love me the way I do, really.”

“Come on, Naruto. It’s been three years. Get over her already, for fuck’s sake,” Kiba complained.

“I can’t. It’s the way I feel. Anyway.” He cleared his throat. “Karin, I’d make you a little less…”

He glanced at Hanabi, who sweetly watched the game with curious eyes.

“Less sassy. Yeah. And Lee, I’d give you a better sense of fashion.” He took a deep breath. “That was hard.”

“Why did you say that? What’s wrong with my clothing?” Lee asked.

He shrugged. “I’m just curious about how you’d look with jeans and stuff. That’s all.”

“Oh. Alright. I’ll wear jeans to school one way, just for you!”

Hanabi asked Karin a mild question, then Hinata to Lee. Then, there were some mild secrets spilled, and someone had to shout out the window that they were bisexual. Naruto was elated when it was Sakura’s turn to ask him a question.

“Alright then. Truth or dare, big boy?”

“Dare.”

“Mhm.” She wickedly smiled, already having chosen her question.  _ “Give your phone to another player to send a text message to their contact of choice.” _

He wordlessly passed his phone to Sakura. “Who are you gonna text? Adults are out of limit, by the way.”

“Who says?”

“Come on, you can’t text weird shit to people. I don’t wanna get into any trouble.”

“Fine, fine,” Sakura sighed. “Who should I text?”

Kiba was also looking at the contacts list on the screen to choose an appropriate victim. “Oh! Why don’t we text Sasuke?” He said all of a sudden, a shit-eating grin tugging at his lips. “I bet he’ll be confused as hell. Imagine how his face cranky would get. Man, I’d kill to see that.”

“You can’t do that!” Naruto made a lunge for his phone, but Sakura acted first, putting it on the bed where Naruto couldn’t reach. Neji was holding Naruto in place so he would not get up. “Neji! He’s not even a saved contact! Find someone else, dammit.”

“If I made that phone call, grow a pair and let them do it.”

“Yeah, but you were anonymous! Sasuke will found out it’s me! Choose someone else, okay?”

Kiba made a face. “How will he find out? Why are you so worried about what Sasuke will think of it anyway? He’ll probably know it’s for a dare. It won’t get anyone into trouble, we’re not gonna text him  _ suck my _ —” Hinata clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Or  _ are we?” _ Karin said.

“You’re the worst.”

“I don’t think you get to protest, Naruto,” Lee agreed with others. “You should’ve chosen truth if you’re gonna be so prudish about it.”

He gnawed at his lower lip in thought. “Fine, but as you said, nothing weird. I still have to face him in class.”

Sakura nodded. “Okay then. You don’t have his number,” she said, typing in the number from her own phone. When she was done, she saved the contact and opened the text window under Naruto’s apprehensive gaze.

“Maybe we should send him a fun text,” Hinata suggested.

Karin was picking at her manicured nails. “Tell him he’s skinny dipping in snow or something.”

Kiba had the phone now, typing in Karin’s suggestion.  _ “I’m skinny dipping in snow.” _

“It’s not even snowing. I’ll sound like a total idiot.”

“That’s the whole point.  _ Duh _ ,” Kiba said, pressing send. “There. Mission complete. Stop sulking, dude! Who cares what Sasuke thinks?”

“I don’t wanna play anymore,” announced Naruto as he got his phone back. Hanabi was giving him a sympathetic look, but others had already moved on to the next pair, ignoring Naruto’s statement. He inhaled deeply. What would happen if Sasuke found out? Nothing. Why was he anxious then? Like Kiba said, why did he even care what the other thought of him?

He stared at the now lukewarm ice gel pack.

* * *

It turned out that he had fretted over nothing as Sasuke had never replied, or even acknowledged the presence of the text the few times they had seen each other at school. They did not get to talk outside of class, really. He wasn’t sure what they would be talking about if they sat down, say, at a café or just on a bench together. It wouldn’t be too difficult to come up with something, would it? Thinking about it seemed pointless anyway, as Sasuke was often hanging out with his friends, and Naruto his own.

He wondered what kind of people the two guys were that he saw constantly around Sasuke. One of them was an albino; he was short and skinny compared to the other guy, who was much taller and wider than both of them. He had auburn hair and a perpetually calm expression on his face.

Naruto saw them leave the school together on Wednesday. He did not want to walk home since he was a little sore from yesterday’s practice and took the bus. Karin joined him, too, making an excuse to the girls she knew from Algebra that she was breaking in new shoes and had sore feet.

Instead of getting off at her stop, though, she followed Naruto to his house. Kushina was home early, cooking in the kitchen with her hair up in a messy bun and a checkered apron.

She put the spoon in her hand down when they entered the kitchen. “Hi! Karin, long time no see!”

Karin kissed her on the cheek. “How have you been, auntie?”

“Good, good. You look cute,” she said, pinching her cheek. “You’re lucky. I’m making lasagna.”

“I shouldn’t eat. But since it’s you,” Karin snickered.

“You weren’t complaining when we had pizza at Hinata’s,” Naruto called out from the side, downing a glass of water.

“Naruto! She’s our guest, mind your manners.”

Karin pushed her glasses back, watching Kushina spread the ingredients in a baking dish. “Need help?”

“Oh, not really. I’m almost done,” Kushina smiled. “There’s some fruit in the fridge if you need a snack. Naruto, can you turn the oven on?”

As Karin brought out two bananas, Naruto pushed the button on the electric oven. Kushina gave him a gentle jab with her elbow. “Thanks. How was your day?”

“Not bad. Kakashi was in a good mood, but the test sucked.”

“Did you even study?” Karin asked, mouth full of banana. She handed the other one to Naruto.

“A little, yeah. Whatever. We’ll be in the living room, Mom.”

The two made themselves comfortable on the L-shaped sofa and turned the TV on. There was nothing to watch, really, so they started conversing again.

“Your wrist seems healed. Does it hurt?” She put the banana peel she held on the coffee table.

Naruto moved his hand a little to make sure. “Nope. I tried not to use it too much yesterday. My legs are super sore, though. My whole body is, really,” he said, sprawled out on the soft cushions. “I feel a little sick.”

“Your cheeks are flushed. Maybe you caught a cold or something.”

“I don’t think so. Must be from fatigue. I’ll get better once I properly rest.”

Soon, they had dinner, and Naruto felt a little better once he was full. Karin suggested watching something together, and they ended up watching a romantic K-drama. Kushina brought some snacks to accompany as well. Naruto didn’t eat much of them, though.

When they took a break, Kushina left the room saying she had to use the bathroom. Karin was checking her phone, and Naruto rested his eyes for a moment. He had a fuzzy throw blanket around his shoulders.

“Nards. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” he replied, lids closed.

He felt Karin shift closer. “Has Kabuto said something to you?”

“Like?”

“I don’t know. Anything.”

With a groan, his eyes opened. “We talk like we normally do. Why? What’s up?”

She looked at her red Converse shoes, untying and retyping the laces again, avoiding the question.

Naruto asked again. “Is there something wrong?”

“No. Not really. He just keeps texting me, is all.”

“So? Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Karin instantly shook her head. “No! I thought we’d have a one-time thing and it’d be over. He didn’t seem like the relationship type. Like, at all.”

Incredulously, Naruto looked at her. “Why aren’t you happy?”

“Look. We hooked up, that’s all. I don’t want a relationship.”

“ _ Bullshit _ . You always chase around some guy and hope they fall in love with you or something. Now that someone’s taken an interest, what, you’re bailin’?”

Karin looked perplexed, crawling around for an escape route in her mind. Kushina saved her from the trouble by returning to their side. “Should we watch another episode? It’s still early.”

Naruto fixed his eyes on the screen, refusing to look at Karin in the eye. “Mhm.”


	6. Bonds

The next morning, Naruto woke up to a sore throat and congested nose. He certainly had caught a cold and felt much worse than the night before. There were signs of fever too, and Kushina had left some Advil and water on his bedside table before calling in absent for Naruto and leaving for work.

Through the morning, he slept on and off. Going down the stairs proved to be such a hassle when every bone in his body ached, so he brought up some food with him when he paid a visit to the kitchen at noon. He had a blanket wrapped around him at all times, and the medication made him break out in a sweat and doze off every time he woke up and tried to do something else.

He didn’t know what time it was, but it was the doorbell that awoke him from his slumber. Eyes shut down still, he ignored it, attempting to telepathically will away the person at his door. But it chimed again a while later, and Naruto grouchily grabbed for the covers, getting up and taking a deep breath, which resulted in him having a coughing fit for a short while.

A few minutes had passed by the time he made his way downstairs and answered the door. He had supposed that whoever was at the door would have already left by then, but there the person was, looking cranky and bored from waiting.

“Sas—” his voice came out incredibly hoarse, so he coughed once and tried again. “Sasuke?”

The other boy uncrossed his arms. “I thought you’d passed out. What took you so long?”

“I was upstairs, sleeping.” He felt a little faint, so he leaned his head against the door frame.

“I brought your homework.”

It was suspicious no matter how you looked at it. He stared at Sasuke, unable to think of a reason why Sasuke had come all the way for some fricking homework. However, his thoughts kept straying aside, and “How did you find my house?” was the single thing he managed to utter in the end.

Sasuke held out the papers, heaving a sigh. “Remember when Itachi dropped you off? I was also in the car?”

“Oh – wait, you remembered the route? How? It was dark back then.”

“I have a good memory. That’s all.” He jiggled the papers to catch Naruto’s attention. “Just take them so I can go.”

“Right. Thanks,” he sniffled as he finally took them from Sasuke. “You didn’t have to come all the way here.”

“I know. Itachi blackmailed me to. I think he wants us to be friends.”

“…Aren’t we?”

“I guess we are.” Sasuke’s eyes wandered over Naruto’s bare feet. “You missed all the fun, we did a reading session.”

He had been looking forward to that, but he doubted he could actually read anything in his condition, let alone Japanese.

The silence dragged on while Sasuke readjusted the strap of his backpack. “You look like shit.”

“I feel like shit. I took some meds but I still have a fever, I think.”

“Go rest then.” He turned around, ready to leave.

Before he could go away, Naruto abruptly reached for his arm, grabbing hold of the hem of his coat. He blamed it on being deprived of human interaction all day, and he was always extra needy when he was sick.

Sasuke scowled at him, watching the hand on his clothing. “What?”

“Why don’t you come inside? I’ll make you coffee. You came all the way here, I wanna show my gratitude.”

“You look ready to collapse any second, go to bed.”

“Please?”

The fingers loosened slowly while Sasuke weighed up the invitation. Naruto felt his eyes flutter shut, and tried hard not to fall asleep standing.

“Fine,” was the reply he got. Naruto opened his eyes again, trying to offer a smile, but he felt too sleepy for that. How embarrassing would it be if he fell asleep on Sasuke.

They walked inside with Naruto closing the door behind them. He took Sasuke to the living room, making him sit down before asking him what he would like to drink.

“Just sit down,” said Sasuke from the sofa. “I don’t want to pick you up off the floor.”

“Yeah, but—”

“I’ll take some coffee once you don’t look so pale, okay?” 

There was no point in arguing any further, so he took a seat, hugging his blanket tighter. He could imagine how tousled his hair looked, so he gave it a blind comb with his hand. “So. How have you been?”

Sasuke seemed bemused at the attempt at making small talk. “Alright, I suppose?”

“Heh. Sorry for my voice, by the way. I sound like a goat.”

“Did you go to a hospital?”

Naruto shook his head, which resulted in a pang shooting through his skull. “I took painkillers. Don’t worry, I recover real quick.”

Sasuke dipped his head low. Naruto could see his brows were furrowed, but there was no clue as to what he was thinking. Sasuke left his seat, but his bag was still on the floor, so Naruto knew he wasn’t leaving. He sauntered the living room under Naruto’s watchful gaze, checking the titles of the books stacked on a shelf in the TV unit, and grazed his fingertips over some of them. Then, he started carefully inspecting the numerous picture frames.

“Do you like ‘em?” Naruto asked.

Sasuke hummed in approval. “You have a photogenic family.”

“Hah. Mom loves getting pictures taken. That’s why there’s so many.”

“Is this…?” He stepped aside to show Naruto the picture he’d been scrutinizing.

He knew what was implied. “Yeah. That’s my dad.” It was a simple family photograph taken at a studio, with Naruto standing in front of his parents, their hands on his shoulders. “His name was Minato.”

“You look awfully like him.”

“That’s what I’m told.”

“When did it happen?” asked Sasuke.

“I was in sixth grade.”

Sasuke took in the information, eyes still on the picture frame.

Naruto drew his knees up to his chest. “Did you ever lose someone?”

“Yes.”

He smiled sourly. “Then you know what it feels like.”

Sasuke turned around. “I sure do.”

“…Who was it?”

“My mother.”

Naruto gaped at him, tongue-tied. He had not anticipated said person to be someone that close, and Sasuke had never said anything when he had talked about his dad during that time they had spent alone together in the classroom. There was nothing to feel bitter about, though, as that revelation had been his own choice of suddenly starting to open up.

Yet, Sasuke had somehow decided to let it out to Naruto. He was the reserved type, it was written all over his face, and Naruto appreciated that he was sharing such a personal thing with him – there was a mutual understanding now, something they could share, even though it was just the pain of the death of a parent.

“I’m sorry about your loss,” he quietly said.

After returning to his seat, Sasuke took a small pillow and hugged it to his chest. Rather visibly, it was a difficult topic to talk about. It was only natural. Knowing by experience, Naruto could guess the dizziness that took over whenever Sasuke mentioned his mother.

“She had leukemia. Didn’t really come as a surprise to any of us, but. Still quite a shock.”

“When?”

“Three years ago. She had been fighting it for a long time then.” His voice trembled ever so slightly.

Naruto scooched over a little, putting a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder.

“Are you always this touchy-feely?”

“Mhm. I would have hugged you if every bone in my body didn’t ache.”

Sasuke looked at him with a hopeless expression. “You get used to the pain. You get used to living without them. But. You know what the worst part is?”

“What…?”

“The guilt. I felt something when she passed. It was sort of like…  _ relief _ . It’s just that,” he turned his eyes away. “She was barely home ever since she fell ill. The times she were, we were all worried that her condition would suddenly get worse again, and she’d be hospitalized again anyway. All those chemotherapy, radiation. Transplantation. They just didn’t work… Why did it happen? It was like… a spell had been cast on her.”

There was a quiet sob – it echoed in Naruto’s head over and over again until another one followed. He never knew what it had been that unlocked the door to the past, but Sasuke was there, hands covering his face while he struggled intensely with the need to cry.

Naruto recognized it. He removed his hand from Sasuke’s shoulder and softly wrapped around him instead. He pulled the trembling body close, rubbing circles with his hand to comfort Sasuke. Soon, the broken sobs turned into loud cries, shaking and covering his face all along as he let out years of agony.

“I’m so sorry, Sasuke.”

He didn’t know how long it lasted, Sasuke crying his pain away and Naruto being there for him without a word.

After Minato’s death, he’d had his own nights full of nightmares and tears. But whenever he felt the need to talk to someone about it, his mom had been there, and also Minato’s dad Jiraiya, who had canceled his travels for an entire year to support the family.

Yet, he had a hunch that Sasuke had never talked about it – that was the impression he gave away. Itachi probably had worked all the time, and he had his own grief, while Sasuke’s dad… well, he didn’t really know anything about him. If he had to guess, he’d say he was a strict man, making Sasuke take Japanese against his own choice. Imagining Sasuke hugging his dad and getting comfort proved to be difficult, but behind his edgy behavior and cool attitude, Sasuke was human. He needed it.

“Fuck,” groaned Sasuke, removing his head from Naruto’s shoulder. He tried to wipe away the evidence of his sadness with the back of his hands, but he was red as a tomato from all the crying and rubbing.

“Feel any better?”

“No. I feel  _ hideous _ .”

He retreated his arm to let Sasuke breathe. He looked somewhat dreadful, but Naruto knew he felt better on the inside.

Naruto reached for the box of Kleenex nearby and pushed it to Sasuke’s hand. “Things always take a different turn with us, huh. This wasn’t what I had in mind when I invited you inside, but I’m glad.”

Sasuke snorted. “What did you have in mind?”

“I dunno. Thought we’d talk and stuff.”

“Isn’t that what we did?”

“…Yeah. I guess.”

Sasuke pulled out a napkin. “Crying helped.”

“I knew it would. I always cry like a baby when I’m feelin’ bad. It helps, so don’t try to repress your emotions. That shit makes you sick.” He felt a little hot, so he let the blanket he’d been keeping on himself go. “Now it’s time to make you feel even better. A hot beverage always lifts your mood up. What do you wanna drink? Cappuccino? Espresso?”

“Whichever’s fine.”

They’d always had a good quality coffee machine at hand thanks to Minato’s up all-nighters, and it took Naruto only two or three minutes to return to the living room with a mug of coffee and some herbal tea with honey for himself.

Sasuke had wiped his face dry and was playing with the dirty tissue in his hand. He raised his chin when Naruto came back and thanked for the coffee. Cautiously, he took a sip.

“Sorry, I forgot to ask if you wanted sugar with it.”

“No, it’s fine,” Sasuke said. “It’s pretty good quality coffee.”

Naruto chuckled throatily. “You expected me to serve somethin’ bad to my guest, hm?”

“I had my doubts.”

“And they call  _ me _ impolite.” He had been sniffing his tea. “How did the club go yesterday? Did you tell those bastards to help?”

“Well, they cleaned up their desks for starters,” said Sasuke with a scoff. “They’re untamable.”

“I bet they are. I was like that when I was their age.”

“Hm. Also, some of the old members of the club came to visit. Felt nice to have them for a change.”

“They did? Really? Like, Deidara and Konan?”

Sasuke looked at him strangely. “Do you know them?”

“Yes. I mean, I met them at Deidara’s party last Friday. Interesting folks. They were kind.”

“So you were at the party too, huh.” He downed the rest of his drink.

Naruto coughed a little before he could speak, careful not to spill his tea. “Yeah. Why didn’t you come? It was fun.”

After a shrug, Sasuke rubbed at an eye. “I didn’t feel like it.”

“Really, now? They said you liked to drink. There was booze.”

“Did they.”

“Don’t be mad, I might have asked?” He smiled, bearing minor guilt that he had made Sasuke sulk even further, but he was sick. He had an excuse, right?

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Wipe that annoying smile off your face.”

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

“I did, and look. It worked.”

All he could do was to give Sasuke a small kick in the shin. They were both done with their drinks, and Sasuke was in his own mind again. Naruto didn’t like the concept of comfortable silence much.

“Wanna see my room?” He uttered. “It’s not special or anything. And a little messy. Oh, I put some pictures in the box you gave me—”

“Actually, I should go,” Sasuke replied, grabbing for his bag.

He would insist, because he thought he could cheer Sasuke up, but he didn’t want to be pushy. Also, Sasuke seemed to need a break after breaking down like that. Naruto kept his thoughts of wanting to show Sasuke his comic books and a game he recently discovered to himself. Out loud, he wouldn’t admit, but he’d really started enjoying Sasuke’s company. It was not anything particular he said or did, but Naruto felt comfortable around him. Like he could be himself.

At the door, Sasuke turned around and looked at Naruto with an expression of gratitude. “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” he waved it off. “It was just coffee.”

“Naruto.”

“Yeah?”

He swallowed before speaking. “The things we’ve talked about…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I may look like a big mouth, but I’m pretty sensitive about these things.” He smiled. “I feel like we… get each other. We share similar grief, and,” he looked up, half-afraid Sasuke would take offense.

However, he seemed to empathize.

“And… I wouldn’t share such a thing. I wouldn’t want to.”

Sasuke’s face lit up subtly. “I think I understand.”

They both avoided looking the other in the eye before Sasuke cleared his throat and smiled before walking away. The sparkle in his eyes bared sincerity – not only of his appreciation, but also like Naruto had been given acceptance of some sort. Like Sasuke had fully acknowledged the person who he was.

There, at the door, Naruto took his time to absorb what had happened. It was only when he realized he had gotten lightheaded again that he closed the door and prepared to climb the godforsaken stairs so he could go back to sleep.

* * *

The sickness disappeared as fast as it came, and Naruto blamed it on Kushina’s bombardment of fresh fruits and his own weird immune system. So he did show up for the practice on Friday.

During the game, he tried to avoid situations where he could get injured, but basketball was much more violent than he thought it would be. More often than not, someone stepped on his feet or jabbed him – and vice versa.

When Gai finally called it quits for the day, he found himself downing the entire contents of his water bottle. His soaking jersey was clinging to him, and he felt drops of sweat slide down the side of his face.

“Nice work,” Kabuto said after he entered the changing room. “Your effort is paying off.”

He wiped his forehead with an arm. “Yeah? It’s now easier to move the ball around if I think about it. I don’t calculate the moves in my head anymore.”

“Definitely an improvement.” Kabuto opened his locker and took out his small bottle of shampoo along with a towel. “There’s an upcoming match. We barely have enough players, there’s not gonna be enough on the bench, but I think we should give it a try.”

“What does Gai think?”

“I didn’t ask him yet. But you know him… he says if there’s a chance, we should take it.”

“Yup. I’m in, then.”

Kabuto walked off to the shower room, and Naruto rested his head in contact with the wall. The burning feeling in his legs still lingered on, but he really needed a shower.

He was too slow to get up, though, as the others started going into the shower room, and there were only 5 stalls. Kimimaro was the first one to leave, and Chouji followed him saying he was starving. By the time he could wash up and get dressed, most of the members had left. Kabuto was still there, though, as he needed to lock up the gym, then hand the keys to Gai.

He ended up being the last one to leave the dressing room, and Kabuto was almost done with his job, so they left together. After a quick visit to the teacher’s lounge, they went outside.

“Thanks for the practice,” he said to Kabuto, tying a scarf around his neck.

“You’re welcome. Do you need to be anywhere?”

He scratched at his dried hair. “Me? Uhh. No. Why?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something. I won’t take long.”

As Naruto followed Kabuto to the nearest bench, he was slightly scared of what Kabuto wanted to tell him. He knew there were no issues about basketball – otherwise, Kabuto would have told him during practice, or maybe in the dressing room. It wasn’t like they had never been alone.

So, this was personal, and there was only one thing he could think of since he didn’t have a very personal relationship with Kabuto himself.

Thankfully, Kabuto was quick to get straight to the point. “You know Karin.”

“I do, yes,” he nodded.

Pushing his glasses back, Kabuto let out a breath. “I was wondering if she said anything about me to you. You two seem close.”

Naruto pushed his hands into the pockets of his coat. “We are. She’s my cousin.”

“O-oh.” Kabuto seemed surprised. “I didn’t know.”

“Mhm. We don’t really look alike, do we. But yeah.”

Shaking his left up and down, Kabuto frowned. “So? Did she?”

He wasn’t going to let Kabuto know that he was aware of the situation. “Uhh. No. Did something happen?”

“No, not really,” Kabuto mumbled, looking away, a disappointed gleam in his eye. “I know it’s not fair I’m asking this of you, but would you tell me if she does?”

Naruto chewed on his lip in thought. “Are you… interested in her?”

“Yes. I am.”

“Alright,” he said. “I think it’s best if you two talk it out yourselves.”

“She’s avoiding me, that’s the problem.”

Stupid Karin. If she was not interested, she should have said so. “I can try to convince her to sit down and have a proper talk, if you want me to. But I can’t wangle her into telling me anything. Sorry.”

“No, that’s good. I’m glad to hear that,” He patted Naruto’s shoulder, standing up. “Thank you. Really.”

“It’s no problem, captain,” he laughed. He felt lucky to have gotten out of the situation without hurting either Kabuto or Karin, though the latter needed a foot in her ass.

He biked home, dropped his things off before washing his hands and starting to cook. By the time Kushina arrived home, he had sautéed chicken and vegetables. They talked about their day while they ate, and did the dishes together.

Sprawled out on the sofa face-down, he was on his phone. Kushina had changed and came back with a cup of tea for them, and the news was on, as glum as ever.

“What a world,” she said before flipping the channel. She was stuffing dried fruit into her mouth every now and then.

“Mhm.”

“Do you have any plans for the weekend? We can go somewhere, if you want.”

“Hmm.”

“Naruto!” She poked Naruto’s calf through his grey sweatpants. “Put that phone down. I’m talking to you.”

“Yes, Mom,” he replied, still scrolling.

Kushina gave up, knowing that she was bound to lose any sort of fight. “Unruly teenagers. I deal with a bunch of you at work, and guess what I get when I’m home: another one!”

“You complain too much.”

“And you never listen.”

“What happened at work anyway?” He changed the subject, rolling around so he could face Kushina. The phone dropped to his stomach.

“Nothing special. Two girls asked if we had the second Twilight book, and threw a temper tantrum when I told them we don’t carry Twilight. Or Fifty Shades of Grey.”

It was difficult not to laugh at the way Kushina told the story, like she encountered that sort of people every day. Maybe she actually did – which was even funnier to think about.

“Go on, laugh. It’s not like you’re very different from them. You surely don’t read enough books for a librarian’s son, you know.”

“It’s not like I have to do whatever you do. Besides, I read comic books.”

Kushina raised a brow. “You think that counts?”

“Who cares? It’s not a contest, Mom.  _ Chill _ . I speak another language – or I will, if I keep at this rate, so I’m already one step ahead of you.”

“I don’t like the way you say it but that’s true.”

“In fact,” he got up. “I have some Japanese homework to do, if you’ll excuse me.”

She seemed suspicious. “It’s Friday. Why’s the rush?”

“No reason, I just wanna get done with it quickly.” He realized he had been sitting on the same spot as Sasuke had yesterday. “A friend was kind enough to bring it all the way here.”

“Who? Sakura?”

“No. I’m sure she would, if she knew. But it was someone else.”

She crossed her knees, taking a gulp from her drink. “Who then?”

“The person who gave me that little box. Remember him?”

“Of course! He must be a really nice person,” she nodded. “Did you thank him properly?”

“Mom! I did, yes.”

“What’s his name again?”

Naruto tried not to look too stirred up as he said it. “Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha.” Whenever he uttered the name, he felt like Sasuke would appear behind him. Out of nowhere, he had started to feel nervous about it, and he had no idea why.

“Uchiha?” The crease between her brows deepened. “I know that name.”

“Itachi?”

“Oh, right! They’re related, huh?”

Naruto impishly smiled. “They’re brothers.”

“No way!” Kushina was over excited about the whole thing, but it was endearing. “Let me see. He’s kind, he’s good at arts, he’s in your Japanese class. It’s kinda disturbing.”

“I know, right!?” They both agreed on the matter and Naruto couldn’t be happier about it. “They’re good at everything they do. It’s weird. Sasuke has a little attitude problem in class, though – you should see him, Mom. He’s doing everything he can to piss Itachi off.”

“Oh my God.”

They both went into a laughing fit.

“You can ask him to come over whenever you want,” she said sweetly, extending her plate to Naruto.

Naruto picked a piece of dried apple and chewed on it. “Alright. I’m gonna be on my computer if you need me.”

“You said you would do your homework.”

“What’s the rush? It’s only Friday!”

* * *

The following two weeks passed with taking tests and they barely got together with the usual gang. Naruto was thankful that he did not have to study extra for Japanese since they were graded for class activities and homework – he wasn’t sure if he was an A student even at that, but he did try his best.

It was Monday again, and Naruto waited with the others in the corridor for the bell to ring. They said goodbye once it did, everyone heading to their classes.

Five minutes passed, then ten. Sai was sitting next to Naruto as Sasuke had not come yet – Naruto wondered maybe if the car broke or something since neither siblings had shown up, and Itachi had a fixation with punctuality. Eventually, the roar in the classroom became louder as most believed the class was canceled and it was pointless to keep being there.

Before anybody left, though, Kakashi walked in, waving a clump of worksheets in his hand. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry for the wait – or am I? Heh.” He stood before the students. “Did you miss me?”

Shikamaru was the first one to ask the question on everybody’s mind. “Where’s Itachi?”

Of course Kakashi knew the question would arise. “Well, well. Aren’t you a curious bunch? He’s on leave and I’m substituting for him, surprise!” He gave them what appeared to be the signals of a smile through his mask, sides of his lids crinkling, but at that point, Naruto was practically sure the man was only narrowing his eyes to make it look like a smile.

“Is he okay?”

“You used up your question.”

“Do you even speak a word of Japanese?” Shino asked, tone indicating that he predicted the answer and was not pleased with it.

“ _ Of course not _ , Aburame. Why would I?”

“There’s no point in you substituting, then. Just let us go. I have other stuff to do.”

Kakashi shrugged. “You’re free to leave, certainly, but you’ll be marked absent. Itachi told me these are today’s work, so I’d recommend doing them.”

As Kakashi gave the Japanese working sheets to Chouji to distribute, Naruto leaned in toward Sai. “This is weird. Sasuke’s not here either. Do you know anything?”

Sai stared at Naruto long enough to cause irritation. “No.”

Had it been only one of them, Naruto wouldn’t be concerned. He did not understand why Kakashi didn’t tell them why Itachi had taken a leave – Naruto was in this school for three years and he didn’t think Itachi had been off for more than two or three times. The man was the type to lose sleep over his work.

And Sasuke, too. He was late on occasion, and certainly didn’t mind spacing out when the class wasn’t interesting enough. But he  _ did _ show up. Naruto indeed had a bad sensation about this.

Kakashi made a final announcement before he pulled out his smartphone. “Please, if you have any questions about the assignment, don’t ask me. Really. I don’t have the answers.”

“It’s strange that both of them are absent,” Naruto whispered to Sai, who was already engaged with the assignment. Sai didn’t budge, so Naruto poked his arm.

“What.”

With a sigh, Naruto repeated. “Itachi and Sasuke. They’re both missing.”

“So?”

“What if something’s happened?”

Sai sighed. “You’re overthinking.”

“Maybe. We don’t know.”

“Why do  _ you _ care?”

Sai had the nerve to say that, huh? If he was as close to Sasuke as he made out to be, why did he seem so cool with it? Was Naruto overreacting? He didn’t think checking would hurt.

Naruto clearly pronounced all the syllables in his next sentence. “I care, because he is my _ friend _ .”

Sai rolled his eyes. “Fine, dickless. But I really don’t know anything. Try asking Kakashi.”

Kakashi was comfortably seated at the teacher’s desk with feet on top of it, not even bothering with pretending to pay attention to what the students were doing. It was considerably noisy, too, but since the classroom was not close to any other, they were probably safe.

He got up and made his way toward Kakashi, who visibly expressed annoyance upon Naruto’s arrival. “I said no questions..”

“I know. It’s not about the class.”

He repeated. “No questions.”

Naruto put a hand on the side of the desk. “No, you said  _ don’t ask me anything about the assignment.  _ I won’t.”

Kakashi raked a hand through his hair and nodded, giving up on his claim. They both knew Naruto was right, but Kakashi just  _ had to _ make everything ten times trickier. “Okay, what is it?”

“I just wondered if you know why Itachi’s on leave?”

“I do. Jeez, you scared me there. I thought you’d ask something else.” With that, he tore his gaze from Naruto and fixed it on his phone screen again.

Naruto blinked a couple of times. “You’re not gonna tell me?”

“Hm?” Kakashi looked up. “Why would I do that, Naruto?”

“I…”

Kakashi glowered at the boy. “Do you want me to give you his home address too? He had to take a leave, so he did. That’s all. Go do your thing now.”

“At least tell me if he’s okay? You didn’t say anything when Shikamaru asked. I know he’d been working hard lately. I’m just worried.”

“It’s not my place to tell you anything.”

Nothing more would come out of it, so without thanking him (not that Kakashi was expecting him to do it anyway), Naruto went back to his seat . Kakashi’s hesitancy to give a proper answer planted seeds of worry in his gut. Was it really that unmanageable to say something to a pupil who worried about his teacher?

Sai was almost done with the first page, and Naruto copied it off of him, thinking he would redo it later.

“What does Kakashi say?”

“Nothing. He’s not even telling me if Itachi’s okay.”

“Maybe it’s Sasuke?”

Naruto paused writing. “There’s that too.”

“…I think you might be right.”

“Huh?”

“It’s weird that Kakashi’s not telling anything,” Sai crossed his legs uncomfortably. “You’re a good observer. I should’ve listened to you... I’ll work harder at my friendship skills.”

“Uh. I just have a bad feeling about it, that’s why I insisted we’d find out.” Something about the way Sai said it made him feel sorry – like he had discovered an insecurity by mistake and made Sai feel uneasy. Even Sai had insecurities, after all.

“Hmm.”

“It’s okay to check what’s up. Just in case.” He flashed a toothy grin at Sai, and received a creeped-out look, but it only made him grin harder.

“I’ll text Sasuke. Will let you know if I hear anything.”

“Thank you.”

“By the way,” Sai started staring at Kakashi, who was oblivious to the chaotic rumble going on in the room. “We’re going to gather at Deidara’s place on Saturday,” Sai said. “You want to come? They like you.”

Distracted, Naruto looked at him. “What, me?”

“No, your mom.”

“Shut up,” he laughed it off. His mind was occupied with the thought of Sasuke. “Yeah. Sure. Why not.”

* * *

The subject was pushed aside for the rest of the day. In the afternoon, Neji, who took one of Itachi’s other classes, was able to go home early because the class was canceled and no substitutes were available, and Naruto didn’t hear anything about the matter aside from that, including from Sai.

However, he saw Sasuke at school the following day. It was a relief mingled with fear, and he wondered why he did not go up to him to ask. He made excuses in his mind whenever he found the courage to. Sasuke was with his friends and it would be awkward if he pulled the other aside to ask a question. He could use his phone, but then Sasuke would find out about the ridiculous dare text.

As expected, the gossip started to flow like a dam had been destroyed when it was the third day Itachi was MIA. It was not only Naruto who was fussing now – the entire school shook with the rumor that Itachi had  _ died _ , which almost gave Naruto a panic attack, but there was no way Sasuke would still come to school if that had happened. There was another one saying he was on honeymoon. These students were too creative for their own good.

The last period had ended about half an hour ago, and all his friends had left. The pitiful alibi that he had made to his friends doubled the feeling of nausea. The urge to throw up increased as he paced the corridor. The gym door was half-open, and he was tempted to go see what was going on inside as an excuse.

The art room’s door was closed. He knew that as he had walked past that same spot over and over again, only to come back and repeat. He did not ever remember finding it that difficult to open a goddamn door.

Five more minutes passed, and his clammy hands finally found the door handle. He had to do it now, or he wouldn’t ever get a chance. He knew Sasuke was inside – he had watched him go in.

He softly pushed the door open without knocking. Spotting Sasuke turned out to be easier than he thought it would be as the dark-haired boy sat at the first desk seen from the entrance. He did not seem to notice Naruto, head dipped in with a pencil in hand.

“Uhh.”

Still no reaction. Only then he realized the earphones Sasuke had on. He hesitantly waved a hand, and tried knocking even though it beat the purpose, and failed miserably once more.

Taking a deep breath, he shut the door and took a step forward as animatedly as he could. That unmistakably worked as Sasuke pulled the plugs out of his ears with rapid speed, startled.

“Sorry!” Naruto’s hands went up. “I tried to get you to notice, but it didn’t work.”

“Did you?” Sasuke said quietly.

Naruto rubbed his hands together, not sure what to do with them. “You seem engaged. Should I come back later?” He desperately wanted Sasuke to say no. He knew the other students would start coming in soon.

His wish came true. “No, no.” Sasuke closed the notebook he’d been drawing in and got up to pull a chair for Naruto. “How are you? You seem healthy.”

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks for askin’.” He got seated across Sasuke, trying to keep a neutral face. Sasuke looked dreadful with his messy hair and undereye circles too dark, even for him. His hands were dirtied from the graphite his pencil had left on the paper, but he did not seem to mind. “How are you holding up? I’ve heard some batshit rumors.”

“Ask  _ me _ about it,” Sasuke shook his head. “I’m sick to my core of all the people coming up to ask.”

That killed all the bravery Naruto had managed to brew inside. He wiped his hands on his pants, looking around in hope of someone whispering the perfect thing to say, but it didn’t happen, as expected. He swallowed, managing to find something at last. “Who were you listenin’ to just now? That one band you let me hear?”

Sasuke cracked a knuckle. “No. It’s Harry Styles.”

“Ha? That dude from One Direction?”

Sasuke looked at him skeptically. “I don’t know what that means. He makes decent music, that’s all.”

“He was in a boyband before he went solo, y’know.” He stood up despite having taken a seat only a minute ago. “It’s pretty hot in here.”

“I think it’s normal.” Clearing his throat, Sasuke spoke, visibly irked by the nervous paces Naruto started doing around the room. “It’s fine if you want to ask. I don’t mind.”

“Uh. No? I mean, if you don’t wanna talk about it it’s okay.”

“I’ll tell you so put your ass back down in that chair. You’re distracting me.”

Wordlessly, he followed, waiting for Sasuke to speak again.

“We took him to the hospital Sunday afternoon. He passed out in the kitchen. Hit his head to the floor pretty hard.”

“…Shit.”

“They did some tests. There’s nothing to be worried about, but he needs to rest. He’s on sick leave for the week.”

“How’s he doin’ now?”

“Better. I was really afraid he’d had a concussion but that’s not the case. It’s just his body that’s not coping very well with his lifestyle, but for now, he should be fine if he stays home for a few days.”

Naruto, unable to sit still, started rocking a leg. He could easily empathize with Sasuke, sense the fear of losing another person dear to him. It must have been like hell, the past couple of days.

“I’m… really glad to hear there’s nothing serious goin’ on. What about you, Sasuke? You don’t look so good yourself.”

“I can’t sleep well. But I’m okay.” He reassuringly nodded. “Hm.”

Naruto raised his brows, a look of almost childlike curiosity on his face. “What is it?”

“You’re an odd one, Naruto.”

“Why did you say that?”

“It’s like you have a gift. You’re sensitive to other people.”

“Isn’t that normal?” He smiled a little. “We’re all bound to each other as humans.” 

Sasuke cocked his head to the side. “I don’t know what’s normal. All I know is I don’t see that in others. Including myself.”

“Maybe you don’t look hard enough. Mom says I wear my heart on my sleeve. It’s probably easier to notice because of that.” He reached for one of the clean brushes he saw. “Look at you. You’re worried about your brother. Of course you’re sensitive to others as well.”

“That’s only because he’s my brother.”

“You’re saying you’d stare at the man bleed to death on the floor if he hadn’t been your brother?” He internally grimaced at the crude image he created.

Sasuke didn’t hide his own agitated external reaction. “I don’t think so.”

“There’s your answer. You know, people don’t need physical wounds to be tended to and cared. You cared about him before this. You asked me about my arm and told me to ice it when I got it bruised. You’re no heartless man, mister.”

Sasuke quietly took the words in. Naruto stopped stroking the bristles of the brush against his hand.

“Let me know if you need anything, okay?” He left for the door, but he was stopped by Sasuke.

“We should exchange numbers.”

Naruto felt his heart start to beat erratically. “Uhh. W-why?”

Sasuke seemed confused. “So we can communicate?”

“Right.” His hands were all sweaty again. “Heh. There’s something I need to tell you first though. This is gonna be a little awkward but I need to get it off my chest.”

“What is it?”

“Look. Umm. Did you receive, like, any weird texts recently?”

The look Sasuke gave him was entirely blank. Before confusing him any further, Naruto tightly shut his eyes and spit out the words fast enough to win a rapping contest.

“We were playing truth or dare and I needed to hand over my phone to someone so they would send a funny text and they chose you I swear I tried to stop them but they did it anyway  _ I’m sorry _ .”

Slowly, he opened his lids, expecting to see an irritated Sasuke. Instead, it was now a face that could easily take place in psychology books as the literal definition of confusion.

Naruto knew he needed to say it then. “The skinny dipping in snow text. I’m sorry.”

That made the penny drop. Unlike Naruto’s anticipation, Sasuke laughed at it, and he laughed hard. “Moron.”

“Yes. I’ll take it this time. Sorry again.” Somehow, he was happy that the ridiculous thing was making Sasuke laugh and forget about Itachi at least for a moment.

“It’s fine,” Sasuke said between chuckles, opening the old text to save Naruto’s number to his contacts. “I’d forgotten about it already.”

“Yeah? I was scared you’d be mad.”

“Mad? At this? You’re insulting me.” He snorted. “Skinny dipping in snow, huh. It’s nowhere near cold enough for that.”

He happily stretched his arms, pleased with the way the events turned out. “I know, right?”


	7. Flute Without Dancing

The decision to pair up with Karin for Biology presentation on marine creatures led them to meet up at Sakura’s place on Saturday morning since she was also taking the class. It probably was not necessary to gather for it – they only needed to choose an animal and present it for five minutes each, and preparing for that should not be that hard, Naruto thought. Dugongs were their pick of animal and there was quite a lot of information on Wikipedia they could use, so neither he nor Karin worried much.

After spending a full hour enjoying the fantastic breakfast Sakura had arranged for them, Naruto and Neji washed the dishes while Karin dried them with a towel and Sakura placed them in the cupboards. Within ten minutes, the entire kitchen was sparkly clean, and they were ready to start working.

Sakura’s room was not exactly large, but she had a folding table that allowed them to work without any trouble. The chairs brought in from the kitchen were comfortable enough, too. Each pair worked on their own presentation – it was not a surprise that Karin and Naruto were finished early as they had copy-pasted most of the sentences. He let Karin add pictures (even though she clearly expressed dislike against the look of Dugongs) as he browsed for random memes.

“How does this look?” Karin asked. She had photoshopped a pink bow on a Dugong.

“Stupid,” Naruto replied. “Definitely add it to a slide.”

“This is serious,” Sakura called to them from their side of the table. Neji was the one controlling the mouse, but Sakura was determined to keep commenting and nagging until things were the way she liked.

Karin snickered. “Come on. The entire class is going to be bored to death after your presentation anyway. No harm in cheering up a crowd.”

Neji shook his head in disapproval. “You two are way too extreme. May God help Kurenai.”

“God? Since when are you religious, Neji?”

“I’m not,” he explained to Karin. “But desperate times call for desperate measures… Desperate times meaning you two doing a thing together.”

“I don’t get it.”

Naruto stuck up his middle finger to Neji. “Jealous?”

Sakura stood up, pushing her chair back. “I’m gonna get some coffee for us.”

“I’ll help you,” Neji followed her after saving their work. “I can’t be alone with these two.”

“We can hear you!” Karin’s face was quite the sight. “Motherfucker. He just left like that!”

“You know Neji. He probably wanted to help her but won’t admit it.”

“He didn’t have to humiliate us, though.”

Naruto pulled at a strand of Karin’s hair. “How are things with Kabuto? He’s still texting?”

“No, actually,” she checked the door, continuing when she saw nobody was present there. “He just… stopped.”

“Oh.”

“Realized nothing would come out of it, I guess.”

Naruto sighed. “You won’t give him a chance? I mean – I don’t get it. He’s your type, I know that.”

“Hmm. He’s not bad. I don’t know. I’m torn.”

“Is it the sex?”

“What—” Karin put a hand on his mouth. “No, the sex was fine, okay?” She whispered.

Naruto pulled her hand away. “What’s the problem then?”

She didn’t answer.

“You’re afraid? He’s a nice guy, Karin. That much he’s made obvious.”

“Afraid? I’m not taking relationship advice from you, Naruto. It’s been, what, three years? And you still haven’t asked Sakura out. Seriously, grow a pair.”

“It’s not the same, you idiot!”

They had not realized Neji was walking in. “What’s not the same?”

“Never mind.” She pushed her chair away from Naruto’s a couple of inches. “Where’s Sakura?”

“Talking to her mother. She’ll be back in a minute.”

Naruto watched the whiff of smoke soaring up from the coffee cup. “I’m so full.”

“Yeah, Sakura really outdid herself with the breakfast,” Neji said. “She might not have the time to hang out with us like this when she enters med school.”

Karin put her chin on the desk, eyes hazy. “I wonder what will happen to us when we graduate.”

Footsteps approached, and Sakura was back with a plate of cookies. “These I bought from the store, but I don’t know if they’re good. I haven’t had any before.”

“Sakuraaa. My stomach hurts, I can’t eat anymore,” Naruto complained, purposefully making it sound a little whiny, hoping she’d pay him some attention.

“Oh. It’s okay. You’ll get hungry eventually.”

He scratched at his head, disappointed with the reaction. “I actually have to be somewhere in a while.”

Karin asked. “Where?”

“Deidara’s.”

“Hmm. He’s not my type, but he seems like a fun guy.”

Naruto chuckled. “He has a boyfriend.”

“Who?”

“Sai.”

“Really? Shit, that’s an odd couple,” Karin commented, wiping her glasses on a piece of napkin.

Neji brushed his hands through his medium length hair, stretching his torso as he did so. “Indeed. But are we really ones to judge? We’re all single.”

“…Actually,” Karin spoke. “I might have someone.”

“Do you, really?” Naruto said in a flat tone. “Wow. How come you never told us?”

The punch he received to his thigh under the table was not pleasant, but he did not have enough time to retaliate. “It’s not like that. He’s been wanting to meet up. But I’m not sure if I want to.”

Sakura clapped her hands happily. “That’s good! I’m happy for you. Who?”

“Kabuto.”

“Oh.” She attempted to keep her smile on. “Uh. I didn’t think he’d, umm. Are you sure he’s not looking for, like, a… fuckbuddy?” Naruto found it adorable that she had flushed a little.

Karin was prepared for the question, evidently. “No, I mean, he made it clear that he’s not looking for a casual fling.”

“That’s awkward. Didn’t you get on with him at the party?” Neji said in thought.

“Um. Yeah? He was a little drunk, though.”

“Sounds fishy to me. Is okay with shagging a random stranger, now he wants to date you.”

Sakura took a tentative sip from her coffee. “I’d go. Meet him, I mean. Worst case scenario, you don’t like him. Block his number. He’ll graduate this year so you won’t have to face him much. What do you think, Naruto?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged.

“Anyway. That’s just my opinion.”

Neji leaned forward, closer to Karin. “How long has he been wanting to meet?”

Karin was playing with her hair. “I don’t know. Three weeks?”

“Hmm. Persistent guy.” Neji nodded ponderously. “Well. I’m going to agree with Sakura, then. Give the guy a shot if you want to. Meet somewhere public, though. Meanwhile, we will slowly rot to death within the depths of our loneliness.”

Sakura wrinkled her face at that, then licked her lips. “Um. Actually.”

Naruto shook his head in disbelief. “ _ No _ .”

“Lee asked me out.” She apologetically looked at them. “I wanted to tell you all sooner but I never had the opportunity.”

“Sakura! That’s great news!” Karin cheered, deliberately opening her eyes wide and wearing a made-up smile that radiated way too much enthusiasm. “Wow. Lee’s a real man, huh? Went ahead and asked you out properly. I admire him.”

Sakura seemed a little confused. “Uh. I guess?”

“What are you gonna say to him then?”

“No,” Sakura pursed her lip. “He’s a super nice guy. I know. But.” Her voice got lower and lower.

“But?”

Naruto reached for a cookie. It was a chocolate chip. “You know why she won’t say yes, Neji. Stop askin’.”

Karin took a deep breath. “Still?”

Sakura looked down at the cookie between Naruto’s fingers. “Yeah.” She sounded almost guilty, and it made a sharp pang jolt through his chest. One, because he knew Sakura was hurting because of this, and two was entirely his own selfish reason: because he would rather have Sakura love  _ him _ instead.

Neji’s eyes wandered off to the empty wall, and he cocked his head to the side with a sorrowful face. “Here comes the melancholy.”

Naruto shrugged. “Come on. You can’t start sulking now! Or else this is gonna turn into a group therapy session.”

Karin had already dipped her head low. Neji slowly nodded, grabbing for the mouse. “We need to finish this first. But we’ll have to do one of those sooner or later.”

* * *

A little past noon, he left Sakura’s house along with Karin and Neji, but each went their separate ways. He had not been given a specific time to be at Deidara’s house, and when he asked, he was told to come whenever, so he chose to stroll there to clear his mind.

The sky was a light shade of gray, and fine raindrops splattered down, not soaking him, yet plenty to get the feeling of wetness through. His dark coat was watertight enough to allow him to walk around, and his boots were heavy on his feet, but he didn't mind much.

He had tried to suppress it and pretend to be indifferent to the topic at Sakura’s, but he disliked the way he had been slapped in the face with the fact that he was in an unrequited love that people only mocked him about at that point. Hell, he mocked it himself, faking and pointing at its silliness whenever mentioned, misleading everyone to think he was over it. Sakura herself did not even seem to acknowledge the idea anymore, brushing the slight remarks as a joke and even making jokes herself. He was way too deep in the friendzone. He was too late.

When he thought about Sasuke as the boy Sakura was in love with, it was bizarre that he did not feel any resentment. Not that it would make sense to be mad at him for having Sakura fall for him - but people felt unexplainable things all the time. Maybe it was because Sasuke had virtually rejected Sakura, time and again, by not showing interest in her in the slightest. He was not a potential rival. Was that what kept Naruto at bay? Had Sasuke been interested in Sakura, would the way he saw Sasuke change in a negative way?

Had Sasuke stolen his chance at love with Sakura? If Naruto had acted first, before Sakura formed any feelings for Sasuke, would things have been different?

It was all unsettling to think about, and he saw it as pointless because the way the actual events had taken place was far different than that. Nothing could be done about their sentiments, obviously – Naruto did not believe Sakura would give up on the other and start falling in love with him all of a sudden, especially considering they had been seeing each other every single day for the last three years. And she knew, of course, as he had made it quite obvious ever since he’d recognized the feeling himself until Sakura’s declaration of love for Sasuke.

On the other hand, could his own emotions change? He really wanted to find an answer to that. Admitting it was tough, but when Konan had been acting close to him at the party, that certainly had not bothered him in the way it should have. And he was bothered by that – because why hadn’t it? He should have felt guilt. He should have put some distance when Konan had wrapped an arm around him. It was not like _ I guess I’m into you now _ , but… he had always assumed his love for Sakura ran so deep by now that it would not be affected by something like this. Was it possible to give up on loving someone? Or what he had believed to be love all along was fabrication – mere admiration for the girl made look like love? He hated the idea. He rejected it with all his being, and once again rammed his feelings down.

The walk took maybe 45 minutes, and he felt calmer by the time he made it to the doorstep. The doorbell looked intimidating enough to have him phoning Deidara instead to let him in. He apparently was the last one to come, although no one seemed to care one bit about the fact, sprawled out on various furniture in a manner that did not fit with the overall fashion of the mansion.

“Day drinking?” He commented, instinctively taking a place close to Sai. He looked around to give everyone a proper greeting, but his eyes ended up fixing on one particular person as the counter pair of eyes were curiously following his movements.

“Is there something on my face?” Sasuke deadpanned after a while, disturbed by Naruto’s overly intent gaze.

For a second, he panicked. “I—no, sorry—”

“Have a drink, he’s more tolerable when you’re not sober,” said Konan before she pushed a can of beer into his hand. “I know from experience.”

Deidara was in sweatpants, somehow still pulling them off and looking stylish. He was resting his head against Sai’s shoulder. He gave a flinch unexpectedly, putting his drink to the ground. “Wait, I haven’t shown you my room yet! Come on, we should do a house tour. Anyone else wanna join us?”

As Naruto took off his coat and laid it on a chair, nobody showed any interest in the tour, so the two started heading for the stairs with Deidara leading the way.

“I actually haven’t seen much of downstairs as well,” Naruto said, stopping the other in his tracks.

Deidara turned around. “No?” He gestured toward the door on the right – where Naruto had entered before during the party hours, but the details were too blurry, and he pictured some perturbing things whenever he thought of it, so he tried to pretend it was his first time seeing it.

“It’s where we usually watch stuff with Mom. There’s a game console somewhere for when the guys are around.” The room was relatively small in the morning light, mostly occupied by a contemporary chair with its dark, fluffy cushions. “I’m gonna lock this door next time I throw a party. You should’ve seen how gross it was. I had to have everything cleaned.”

“I can imagine,” Naruto replied, not hiding his disgusted grimace.

Deidara showed him the other two rooms which he had not seen before, and they went upstairs afterward. He skipped his parents’ bedroom, and took him straight to his own instead.

For such a lavish house, Deidara’s bedroom was quite plain. Yet, it would be a lie to say it was not classy in its own way, with walls simply painted gray, and the furniture looked sturdy enough, light hues dominating the color palette of their surroundings.

Besides the double size bed and a sizable dresser, the rest of the room was filled with much smaller objects – specifically art tools, Naruto recognized. In a corner, there stood an expensive-looking stool chair with its complementary table.

“Like it?”

“Yeah. It’s a very nice room.”

When Deidara was done with showing the inside of his closet (alternatively  _ dressing room _ , although some would call it a small boutique), he gave the chair a regretful look. “I bought these so I could concentrate more on what I do. Never worked out, though. See, I need to change my environment quite often. One day I’m in the dining room, next week I can’t draw a single line there.”

“Is that common among artists?”

“Hmm. Don’t know. Never asked someone else about it,” Deidara replied, leaning over the stack of sketchbooks on the floor. “I need to get rid of some of these.”

Naruto was astonished at how productive Deidara must have been if all the pages of those were filled. “Why? Don’t you wanna keep them so you can look back and see your progress?”

Deidara picked one up. “I’ve been doing that for too many years now. Most of them are from when I was much younger anyway, hm.”

His interest was piqued, so he got closer to look. “When did you start drawing?”

“Ha. Let’s see.” He flipped the pages, showing Naruto some of them if he found it satisfactory. “I think I started around 7. I’ve been homeschooled for a couple of years so it was a good hobby to keep myself busy.”

“Homeschooled? I didn’t know that!” He showed admiration at a particularly good sketch. “Why did you start going to school then? You could’ve been, like, the next Van Gogh.”

“I doubt Van Gogh drew any comic books. My parents were a little worried because I didn’t have many friends and spent all my time drawing crap. It’s not like I ever got out to play with the kids in the neighborhood. My mom wanted to go back to work, too. Still, it turned out to be a good decision.” He dropped the sketchbook. “Though I miss it a little bit, sometimes. Anyway. I’m gonna get hair dye for Konan from the bathroom.”

The tiny figures on the dresser were stimulating enough to keep him entertained as he waited for Deidara to get his things. When Deidara returned, he was holding a bottle of purple dye, hair conditioner, and some other things. Naruto gave him a hand carrying them downstairs.

The gang were in a similar state to when the two had left, so Naruto slipped into his former spot without much trouble. The empty cans lying around should have gave him some clue, but it took him a while to realize the lot had gotten considerably smashed – save for Kimimaro, who then explained Naruto he did not drink because of health reasons.

“You didn’t wash your hair, right?” Deidara asked Konan as the girl sat on the floor, right in front of Deidara.

Konan groaned in response and took another drink. “Nope. It’s greasy as a French fry.”

Naruto was comfortable on the sofa, half-aware of Sai and Sasuke chatting as he blankly watched Deidara brush Konan’s hair and prepare the mixture. The strong smell of dye was assaulting his senses. He reached for another beer, but his nostrils started to burn soon and he had to cover his nose with his sleeve.

“We’re all used to smelling all sorts of weird chemicals,” Konan laughed at Naruto. “You’ll get used to it in a while.”

He gave a little cough. “Shit. I’m feeling faint already.”

“Really?”

“If I remember correctly,” Sai said, “You can get high off of it if you sniff for long enough.”

“I can’t believe you actually tried that,” Sasuke chuckled throatily. Naruto could see he had two or three emptied cans around. A cloudy memory of being told something about Sasuke and his fondness for alcohol passed through his mind. Not that he had any opposition against it, nor did he have a right to say anything about it, but he still had the decency to mind not going too far in an environment full of teenagers in somebody else’s house.

Sai was intently watching Konan’s hair get covered in a soft shade of purple. “Pretty sure it destructs some of your brain cells. Or something.”

“My scalp burns,” Konan complained.

Naruto scooted closer to where Deidara sat to see the work better. “What’s your natural hair color, Konan?”

“Blonde. It’s such a boring shade, though. Yours is nicer.”

“Heh. Thanks. I have a friend who’s the same, but her hair’s pink now. Said it’s a hassle to get it done so often.”

“Is that Sakura you’re talking about?” Sasuke asked.

Naruto turned to him. “Yeah.”

Deidara examined Naruto’s hair with narrowed eyes for a second. “You don’t have to change the color if you think it’s too much work. I can apply some mask. If you want.”

“Sure. That would be nice.” Naruto smiled. “Wait – now?”

Deidara gave a nod. “We can do it right after I’m done with Konan.” His eyes were concentrated on his task, but his hands moved fast and efficiently. It had not been that long since he’d started, but the dye seemed all spread already.

“Oh. Okay.”

Sai leaned forward, arms on his lap. “I sort of want my hair gray.”

“For real?”

Deidara did not show any sort of reaction, apparently having heard about it before. “You know what I think about that.”

“Just let me try it on. You can dye it back to brown if it doesn’t look good on me.”

“Here’s the thing, baby,” Deidara said firmly. “If I wanted to bang Kakashi, I would. Gray hair is not sexy anymore, period.”

Naruto burst out laughing, accidentally jabbing Deidara in the arm. “Sorry!”

Deidara looked annoyed, rubbing his hands on a wet wipe.

Sasuke made a comment. “It’s a little gross imagining you with Kakashi.”

Kimimaro gave a halt to texting on his phone to join the conversation. “Gray hair, Sai? What’s the point? You’re eventually going to get that. When you’re 80 and your balls are hanging.”

“You guys have no sense of beauty, really,” Sai smiled, basically scorning them with his eyes in addition. He pointed at Sasuke. “Except for this fella.”

“Why’s he special?” Naruto asked.

Deidara nodded. “Yeah, why’s he special, hm?”

“He had a boyfriend who dyed his hair gray. It was great, you should’ve seen him.”

Deidara started throwing random insults toward Sai’s way while Naruto ran a hand through his hair and pulled at it a little. “Uhh. Boyfriend?”

“Yes. Boyfriend.”

“What – you didn’t know he’s gay?” Deidara said in disbelief. He had grabbed a drink. “He could have written it all over his forehead and it would be less obvious.”

Konan was now looking ridiculous with her hair up, all clamped together like she was getting ready to play in a Sci-Fi movie. He checked for Sasuke’s reaction. Sasuke seemed indifferent, but he was waiting for an answer like the others.

“I didn’t know,” he said. “Is it public information or somethin’? So many girls are after him anyway. There was no way I could’ve known.”

Sasuke shrugged. “Is it weird that you found out this way?”

“No. I don’t mind, why would I?” His right leg was rocking up and down. “So how was this boyfriend of yours? The one with gray hair? I’m curious now that Sai’s mentioned it.”

“Oh, he was fine. But a little old for him,” Sai interfered again.

“He wasn’t  _ that _ old,” Sasuke murmured. “Well. Okay. He was nine years older.”

Konan made a face. “Pedophile.”

“When was this?”

“Last year, I suppose,” Sasuke replied, looking down. “He was a friend of Itachi’s.”

“Whoa. Did he know?”

“No. But he found out later.”

Naruto couldn’t help the thrilled cackle leaving his throat. “Shit! What happened?”

Sasuke smirked. “I’m just going to say…they’re not friends anymore.”

Kimimaro huffed out. “Sasuke and his anything-but-pristine reputation. Believe in everything you hear about him, because 99% of the time it’s true.”

Deidara laid down after he wiped his hands. “You little punk. You’re either all quiet and detached, or do weird, reckless shit.”

“You’re not exactly on the responsible side of the scale either,” Kimimaro said.

“Yeah, but I follow a strict line of craziness and disobedience. He’s the one who keeps on changing his mind about his personality.”

“I’ve never seen that side of you before,” Naruto said. “The reckless one.”

“Itachi’s class?”

“That doesn’t count.”

Sasuke cocked his head, appearing to be in thought, searching for an appropriate reply. “I’m not proud of that side of me, honestly. But you’ll probably see it eventually. If you stick around.”

“Oh I will,” Naruto laughed. “You’re not gettin’ rid of me that easily!”

“Stop flirting, boys,” Konan complained. She was resting her chin in her palm, not interested in the slightest.

“We’re not flirting.”

“Sure, sure,” Konan rolled her eyes. “It’s like watching an amateur foreplay.”

Naruto raised his brows. “Ha?”

“Never mind.” She itched a spot on her forehead, close to her hair. “So, Naruto. I’ve been wondering. Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Nope,” he said. “Never got lucky in that department. There’s someone I like, but—” he exhaled loudly. The drink in his hand was still half full, but he let Sai take it from him and drink. “Yeah.”

“One-sided? That’s not fun. I like the chase and all, but gets dull after a while.”

Naruto crossed his arms, watching Konan play with her rings. “I guess. But it’s not like I choose who I like.”

“I get that. Hmm. I usually choose to move on in that sort of situation. If it’s not happening, it’s not happening. No one’s gonna change their mind after a billion years, you know?”

“Ah, the quarrel of the single and miserable!” Sai stood up – he was a little out of balance, tottering as he took tiny steps in the direction of the sofa, and flopped right between Naruto and Deidara. Konan was thankfully sober enough to know to move away, or she would have gotten kicked during the process.

“What are you doing, hmm?” Deidara grumbled. 

Sai put an arm around Deidara’s drawn-up leg, pulling his boyfriend closer. Deidara kicked him – rather harshly, Naruto thought, and got up. “Blond boy, you still want that mask?”

It took a second for Naruto to realize who the blond boy was. “Yeah, sure.”

“Hmm. I’ll go get it. Stay where you are.”

Konan reached a hand for help to get up, and Deidara pulled her up. “My head’s itching like crazy. Think it’s time to wash it now?”

“Yeah. Probably. Hm.”

As Deidara disappeared out of sight along with Konan, Naruto looked at Sai for any sign of clues. “What just happened?”

Sai settled for a shrug, not seeming to care much about Deidara’s crankiness.

“I think Konan likes you,” observed Kimimaro. “She’s not usually so talkative with guys she’s not very familiar with.”

“Yeah? She seems pretty chatty to me,” Naruto said.

Sasuke moved to the armchair Sai was previously sitting in. This way, he sat closer to Naruto, and Naruto could smell Sasuke’s cologne from the proximity.

Sai rested his feet on the coffee table without a care. “Kimimaro used to have a thing for her.”

Kimimaro spaced out for a moment, lost in his fantasy land. “What can I say? She’s hot.”

“Erm. Yeah,” Naruto nodded, perhaps too eager to seem natural. “She’s adorable. That’s for sure.”

“You realize how many men would die to be in your place?”

Naruto cleared his throat. “I’m not really sure what that means?”

“I’m saying go for it,” Kimimaro made a gesture with his hand. “She likes you. You think she’s, in your words,  _ adorable _ . What else?”

“I said I like someone else,” he pointed out. “It’s not like I’m gonna stop liking her just because Konan is cute. That’s not how it works.”

Kimimaro was disappointed. “I’m aware of that. Jesus. But she was right, I think. If it’s not happened by now, what are the chances that it’s going to happen from now on? Did you ask her out, even?”

“I did.” Quietly, he added. “She brushed it off as a joke. ”

Sai was not the only one rolling his eyes.

Deidara was back with an expensive-looking jar of hair mask, and he sat between Sai and Naruto this time, wasting no time in opening the lid and dropping a vast amount in Naruto’s hair.

“That smells nice,” Sai said, “Put some in my hair too?”

After he thoroughly covered Naruto’s hair with the thick mask, he moved on to Sai. “If anyone else wants a hair mask, say it now or forever hold your peace.”

Sasuke was slouched back, watching the events unfold with crossed arms. “I’m hesitant, but I might give it a try.”

Deidara closed the lid of the jar. “Applying a mask on that much hair gel? The mask won’t even touch your hair. I’d rather dump it all in the toilet.”

“Thanks a lot.” Sasuke dead-panned.

Naruto moved uncomfortably. The cream felt cold in his hair, and he probably looked ridiculous. “When do I wash it off?”

“Fifteen minutes. Twenty. Whatever, really.”

After a while, Konan returned with her hair washed, blow-dried, and even styled into loose curls. The color was a lot better now that it was renewed, and the grin on her face was certainly wide enough as she squeezed in between Naruto and Sai. Their arms were touching, and Naruto could smell the sweet, familiar scent of vanilla.

“You look pretty,” Naruto said, and Konan smiled even wider if that were even possible.

Deidara had grabbed another drink. “Did you turn off the curling wand?”

Without even sparing Deidara a look, she hummed in approval. “What did you boys talk about while I was gone?”

“I hope you properly cleaned the bathtub this time. I don’t want purple patches.”

“Deidara!” She hissed, giving him a look. Naruto was slowly sensing that Konan’s intentions were shifting toward a certain path. Purposefully misleading her was not his intention at all. It would only be cruel when he was confused on the inside, so even though he did not mind her close approximate or flirtatious remarks, he tried to counter them as neutrally as he could.

Under Kimimaro’s watchful gaze, a couple more minutes passed. Finally, when Konan’s arm started going further than just brushing against his own, he stood up. “I’m gonna go wash this thing off. It’s time, right?”

Deidara gave a light flinch, raising his head from Sai’s shoulder where it was comfortably nested on. “Hmm, yeah. Go on.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

“There’s clean towels on one of the shelves.”

“Thanks.”

Sasuke had also gotten drowsy in his seat, but he forced himself to rouse. “I need to use the toilet.”

“Will you be able to walk? You drank way more than I did.”

“I’m fine.” As if on cue, he half-tripped, threatening to fall to his knees if it weren’t for the arm of the couch he had his hand on for support.

Naruto snorted. “Fine, my ass. You walk like drunk, old men.” He got Sasuke’s arm around his shoulder, careful not to get any mask on Sasuke’s clothes.

Konan was snickering at them on the side, and Sai had one of his creepy smiles on, so Naruto tried to move as quickly as he could, taking into account that Sasuke’s inebriated body was sluggish and slowing them down.

He dropped Sasuke off at the guest bathroom before going upstairs, into Deidara’s bathroom. The various candles sitting around at random places had contributed, but Naruto was sure he could smell the shampoo Konan had used in the air. It was not something he’d ordinarily use, so he was glad to see other types on the edge of the tub.

Using warm water and some of the menthol shampoo, he cleaned out the mask in his hair. After patting it dry with a towel, he made use of the blow dryer plugged in next to the curling wand. Once dried, he ran tentative fingers through his hair. It was really soft now, but looked a bit out of shape, so he rubbed a pump of one of the hair products between his hands and styled his hair.

Before he left, he gave the bathroom a final look to see if he had caused a mess, but things seemed fine, the tub was clean and the towel he had used was in the laundry hamper. He checked his hair in the mirror again in the room, to see what it looked like in daylight, but there was no discernable difference.

When he arrived at the staircase, he saw Sasuke sitting somewhere in the middle, using the wall as a rest.

“Still can’t walk?”

Sasuke slowly turned his body so he could see Naruto, who now stood next to him. “Not really. I wanted to go upstairs, but ended up collapsing here.”

“Heh. Come on, I’ll help.”

“Actually,” Sasuke swallowed, grimacing like he had something bitter in his mouth. “I think I’m going to sit here for a while.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yes. Just felt like sitting here.”

Taking a seat next on the other side of the stair, Naruto grabbed the handrail with one hand. “I’ll keep you company, then.” Returning to Konan’s side didn’t sound appealing.

“Thanks.” He rubbed at his eyes. “My head’s spinning.”

“Figures. I really can’t hold my liquor, I would have been long out if I’d drunk as much as you did.”

A droplet dripped down Sasuke’s temple, down to his chin. His face was damp, probably from a poor attempt at trying to wake himself up with water. He reached a hand and touched Naruto’s hair. “It’s soft.”

Naruto did the same on a different portion of his hair. “Isn’t it? I like this mask thing. Might try it at home. Deidara is such a nice guy.”

“And you smell like him now.”

“I used his shampoo!” He laughed. “Came here to have a chat, ended up washing my hair in the guy’s bathtub. What a day.”

Sasuke smiled, looking at the ground. “I didn’t know you liked someone.”

“Ah. Yes. Well,” he said. 

“Is it Sakura?”

Naruto nodded. “Yeah. Not hard to guess, eh?”

“I wouldn’t know. I only made a guess.” 

“She doesn’t like me like that anyway.”

“...Sorry about that.”

“Oh. It’s – it’s fine. I’ve come to terms with that, you know? She’s awesome. But I realize she’s probably never gonna love me the way I love her. Even if she stops loving you.” He frowned deeply, feeling the brutality of his own sentence pierce at his chest.

Sasuke sighed. “She deserves better than me.”

“Don’t say that. I know you’re both great. Besides—” he suddenly stopped talking, confused. “Wait a minute. Sakura doesn’t know you’re gay. No way!”

Disturbed, Sasuke raised a brow. “What?”

“That’s why she still thinks she has a chance,” he quietly said.

“Are you going to tell her?”

“I should. I have to.” He gnawed at his lip, rubbing his hands together nervously. “I don’t think I can, though. She’s gonna be devastated.”

“It’s either hypocrisy or murderous honesty.”

“Is it hypocrisy if I don’t talk about it at all?”

Sasuke looked at him, amused. “Absolutely.”

“Wipe that smirk off your face, will ya? I’m in distress.” He lightly pushed at Sasuke’s arm, which received him a flick on the cheek.

“Konan is a good girl,” Sasuke said. “She’s smart. A little crazy, but not too much. I think you two would get along.”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t sound much eager.”

He rubbed his arm. “It just… doesn’t feel right. Call me a sap or whatever, but I don’t wanna date someone just because I can. I wanna have feelings for them.”

“Feelings can develop later.”

“What about my feelings for Sakura? You think they’ll disappear?”

Sasuke hissed at the particularly fast way he turned his head. “I don’t know. Do you want them to?”

“I—” he froze. “I don’t know. I didn’t really think about that.”

“You can do it now, then.” He patted Naruto’s knee. “I think I should head home.”

Naruto nodded, getting to his feet and helping Sasuke move down the stairs. “You came here by yourself?”

“Yes. I walked.”

“There’s no way I’m lettin’ you walk back on your own when you’re like this.”

Sasuke chuckled slowly. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll feel better once I’m out in the fresh air. Go enjoy yourself.”

Naruto huffed. “I enjoyed myself too much today.”

“Still.”

“I’ll have you walk a few feet by yourself. You’re free if you can without stumbling.”

“Pfft. You were serious when you said you’d stick around? I gave you some bad advice and now you won’t leave me alone.”

“Say that again after you kiss the pavement and crack a tooth.”

“…That wouldn’t be nice.”

“I know. I’m gonna tell the others we’re leavin’. Wait here and stay out of trouble.”

Sasuke grinned mischievously. “ _ Hai _ .”


	8. Breaking down the philosophy, philosophy breaking us down

Just like he claimed, Sasuke’s steps gained some balance as they slowly moved in the chilly air. Still, Naruto refused to let Sasuke walk home alone (safety was an issue, but he was also curious about where Sasuke lived) and escorted him all the way.

Where Sasuke lived was not that far from Deidara’s, a fifteen-minute walk was all it took them to find themselves at the porch to the house, Sasuke searching through his cross-body bag for the keys.

“’kay then,” Naruto announced after clearing his throat, eyes on the flowerpots placed on the ground. “I’ll be out of your hair now that you’re here safe and sound.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Naruto waited for Sasuke to continue his sentence in some way, but Sasuke didn’t. He couldn’t think of a thing to say either, so he observed Sasuke open the door.

“What?” Sasuke stepped through the threshold and gave him a tired look. “Just come in.”

“It’s alright, I don’t wanna be a bother.”

Sasuke shook his head. “You’re not a bother. Think of it as payback for making me go into your house.”

“Payback!?” He cracked up. “Who says that? And you said it like it was the most unpleasant experience you’ve had in a while!”

“That wasn’t my intention.” Sasuke sniffed. “It’s freezing.”

Naruto was aware that his breathing came out as a white cloud. “Yeah.”

“I don’t mean to brag, but I make a mean hot chocolate.”

“…You do? That’s an enticing offer,” he said shyly – not sure why he felt timid about entering. Usually, he was the one asking to meet his friends’ parents and siblings, but it was no surprise that it took a separate turn. Things more often than not tended to be different from usual when it came to Sasuke. “…I’ll come, then. If it’s alright.”

Sasuke stepped aside to let Naruto in. “Hmm. Easily persuaded by foodstuff. I’ll remember that.”

He could not crop up with a retort. In the overly lit hallway, he waited for Sasuke to close the door and drop his keys. Then, as Sasuke led the way, Naruto shadowed him like a toddler following his mother – he hopelessly blamed his unusually coy behavior on the unaccustomed environment. Probably appeared a little eccentric from the outside.

They walked into what appeared to be a mix of a living room/dining room at the end of the hallway, and unlike Deidara’s house, the decorations were modest and simple. Itachi was sitting on a couch with a laptop on his lap, and upon their entrance, he gave the duo a bemused glance. “I would have prepared something if I knew you were bringing company, little brother.”

“Hello. Sorry for coming in unannounced,” Naruto sheepishly said.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Itachi replied kindly. “I can’t even remember the last time we’ve had a guest.”

“Give me your coat.”

Naruto swiftly took it off and let Sasuke take it away. “Thanks.”

“Don’t just stand there,” Itachi patted on the cushion next to him, saving Naruto from wondering what the next thing to do would be appropriate. “How’s school?”

“Ah. Alright, I guess,” answered Naruto after making himself comfortable. “How are you feelin’ now? Any better?”

“Much better, really. I’ve had way too much free time on my hands this week.”

He had a quick look at the door, but Sasuke had not returned yet. He was probably off to the kitchen, considering the bold promise he had made about hot cocoa.

“It must be nice. Take care of yourself, though. School’s not any fun without you.”

Itachi lightly chuckled. “Really? What variety of entertainment do I add?”

“I don’t know. Not entertainment, I guess, but like,” Naruto scratched his head. “It’s somehow better when you’re there.”

“Well, thank you,” he smiled.

“Heh. What are you watchin’?”

“This?” Itachi’s attention shifted to the screen. “Just a documentary about the Roman Empire. Thought it would be nice to pass the time. It’s not bad, but that’s all there is to it.”

“Why do you keep watchin’ it then?”

“Didn’t feel like closing it. Nothing really ever disappoints me after Yesterday.”

Naruto hummed. “I haven’t seen that one.”

“Trust me, you haven’t missed much.”

They talked for a while as Sasuke still had not reappeared. “This is kinda weird,” Naruto admitted, rubbing his hands on his jeans. “I’m at my teacher’s house.”

Itachi had the same opinion. “It is unusual, yes. But try to think of me as your friend’s brother rather than your teacher. I’m doing the same.”

“I’ll try.”

He appeared to be thinking. “You two have grown close in such a short time.”

“Um. I suppose?” He added, “Sasuke is cool.”

“Is he? You didn’t seem to feel that the first few weeks of the class.”

Observing his surroundings, Naruto took some time to think through. “I know. We didn’t really talk before. And he’s not exactly pleasant in any of your classes. I wouldn’t know what sort of person he really is if it weren’t for the Japanese class.”

Itachi shut down his laptop, his documentary seemingly discarded, and placed it on the dining table, returning to his seat soon after. “Makes sense.”

“He can be moody sometimes, though.”

Itachi sighed. “Tell me about it. Puberty does that to a person. He’s much better now than he used to be.”

“No way! What did he do before?”

_“Gossip?”_

Only then Naruto noticed Sasuke standing in the doorway with a cup in his hand, glowering at them with his lips curved downward.

“That’s beneath you both,” he continued as he walked inside and gave the cup to Naruto before taking a seat himself.

“Thank you. You even put marshmallows in, aw!”

Sasuke shook his head. “I did. Although I regret it now.”

“Forgive him, Naruto. He’s apparently forgotten how to treat a guest. Right, little brother?”

Naruto licked the remnants of cocoa on his upper lip. “Mhm. Delicious.”

“I know.”

“Sasuke, make some for me too, will you?”

“You don’t even like sugar.”

“Suddenly had a craving for it.”

Sasuke groaned. “In a minute. I need to sit down for a while.”

“I wonder what sort of activities you did at Deidara’s house that tired you out so much.”

Naruto swallowed his drink and looked at Sasuke to see the impact, but Sasuke did not seem to care one bit. “Ha ha. Go back to your gossip.”

“We weren’t gossiping,” Naruto uttered poorly in denial, taking sips from his drink every now and then. “We were… analyzing. Yeah.”

“Analyzing me? What a lame excuse.”

“What do you want for dinner, Naruto?” Itachi asked, ignoring his little brother’s complaints.

“Dinner? Ah. I think I’m gonna take a rain check on dinner,” he said. “I don’t wanna leave Mom alone. I won’t be home much next few weeks, so I wanna spend time with her.”

Sasuke grumbled again, though it sounded unintentional. “Do you have a thing going on?”

“Yeah. Gai decided we’ll compete in the basketball matches so we have to practice more.”

Itachi nodded. “That’s nice. I’ll let you get away this time then, but I want you here for dinner when you have the time. I don’t have anybody else to show Sasuke’s naked childhood photographs.”

The unnaturally deep breath Sasuke took was an indicator of his annoyance with Itachi, which only seemed to delight the older man for some reason. He stood up, walking past Naruto and affectionately patting Sasuke on the head before heading out. “I’ll be in my room, boys.”

Naruto’s eyes followed Itachi’s leaving figure. “Man. He knows how to rile you up. Does he live here?” He asked once the man was out of sight. “I would have thought he had his own place.”

“He did,” Sasuke breathed out, resting his cheek in his palm in an angle that Naruto couldn’t help but think would be uncomfortable. “He moved back here when our mother passed away.”

“Ah. I see.”

“I can’t deny that it saved me a little. I was just starting high school. It would have been… challenging to live alone with my dad. He’s mostly away for work during the day, but. Either way.”

Naruto absent-mindedly watched Sasuke’s brooded face. “I’m glad you’re there for each other. It’s definitely not easy to carry on without some sort of support. Family is good. Seeing this makes me wish I had a sibling. I owe a lot to my friends. Kiba, for instance. He was actually the first friend I made when we moved here in eighth grade. He’s the same as a brother to me.”

“They’re probably different things. Friendship and family.”

“He _is_ family. I mean, not literally. But he’s as close. All of them are.”

“I’m not judging your friendships.”

“Oh no, I didn’t think you were,” Naruto cleared. “But it’s like you have a thing against amities.”

“Huh. Give me a minute, I need some water,” Sasuke exclaimed with another groan before leaving the room with slow steps.

Naruto was left on his own, and he wiggled in his seat uncomfortably, feeling not quite anxious, but restless. The room was much different than the ones in his own house, or any house he had ever been to. Things were the textbook definition of _simple_ , the absolute minimal decoration made it seem like a hotel room or one of those showrooms in IKEA, but even they had enough ornaments that made them homey.

Thankfully, Sasuke was back in a minute, a half-finished bottle of water in a hand, and a full one in the other. He pushed it into Naruto’s hand. “Here.”

“Thanks.” He appreciated Sasuke’s thoughtfulness, even if he had not asked for water. He took a small sip, then a bigger one when he realized how thirsty he was. Sasuke was seated right across him on the same sofa now, with his body fully facing Naruto’s, a leg curled up between them.

“How’s basketball?” Sasuke suddenly asked. “I didn’t know you were serious about that.”

“I am. It’s, well, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take part in basketball specifically at first, I just knew I needed somethin’ to keep me active. But I think basketball’s perfect for me. I’m good at team games. Solo stuff isn’t really for me. And I made a lot of progress ever since I joined, y’know?”

“That’s good.”

“I don’t know if we have the potential to win the games. But we’ll try. Our team isn’t the strongest, but we all try our best. _I_ will try my best. What was the Japanese word for that? I know we’ve learned it. _Gan_ …something.” He brainstormed for a moment, but soon enough, he gave up.

“ _Ganbarimasu_.”

“Yeah! _Ganbarimasu!_ ”

“I guess I envy you when it comes to pursuing an interest so adventurously,” Sasuke admitted softly.

“I thought you were doing that,” Naruto said. “You’re doing art-related stuff, aren’t you? Isn’t that literally pursuing it?”

“Maybe.”

“Wait. You’d rather be doing something different?”

“No.” Sasuke shifted, lifting his other leg up as well and crossing them. He had a look on his face, half buzzed and half anxious. “I’m fine with the way things are. I do it for fun, and that’s it. I’m sure I must be doing more in a parallel world, but I am satisfied at the moment.”

Naruto was puzzled. “Why not go further? I’m sure they’d let you enter that contest Sai did.”

“I assume they would.”

“Why won’t you do it then?”

Sasuke did not reply.

“Look, I’d like to think I’m a good listener. So, if there’s anything you’re holdin’ back, you shouldn’t. There’s no reason for that.”

“No. I’m not holding back,” Sasuke snappishly said. “I shared what I’m comfortable sharing.”

The reaction he got made Naruto feel like he was being discourteous, even though he had no ill intentions in the first place. He probably should have left it alone, there was no point in forcing a reply out of anyone. But Sasuke didn’t have to be so tetchy either. “Alright.” He kept rolling the plastic bottle in his hand.

“I’m going out for a smoke. Do you want to come? You don’t have to.”

Pointing at the fancy ashtray (which was probably the only lavish-looking item in the room), Naruto asked, “You don’t smoke in here?”

“No.”

“Okay. I’ll be here. Don’t take long.” As much as he disliked the idea of waiting alone while Sasuke did his thing, he did not want to face the cold again just for the sake of keeping him company under second-hand smoke.

He checked his messages and replied to a couple of stories on Instagram as he waited. The more time he spent in the room, the better he felt about being surrounded by the dainty objects most likely chosen by someone with a refined, but unadorned taste.

When Sasuke returned, he was rubbing his hands together. “I’m sure it’ll snow if the temperatures don’t unexpectedly rise.”

“I can’t wait to shovel snow every damned day,” Naruto said cynically. “It’s getting more and more difficult to commute to school. I almost don’t wanna go.”

“Sounds like you’d be a drop out if you lived back when there were no cars.”

“Who knows. I think I’d be a farmer. I’m actually pretty sure I was a farmer in my previous life. I have a natural talent for gardening.”

Sasuke snickered as he hopped back into his seat. “Do you actually believe in that stuff? Reincarnation?”

“I kinda do, yeah. It’s fun to think about. Not that I mean to insult anyone’s religion or anything.”

“Don’t worry. My father is traditional, and he believes what he was raised with. So did my mother. But Itachi and I grew up in a diverse environment. I personally doubt reincarnation is a thing. _Not that I mean to insult anyone’s belief or anything_.”

“Hah.” He watched as Sasuke adjusted his hair, which had been disarranged by the wind outside. “Hey, Sasuke. Can I ask you somethin’?”

Looking up, Sasuke waited for Naruto to continue.

A verbal reply would have made Naruto feel more at ease after getting snapped at just a while ago, but he couldn’t suppress his curiosity anyway, so he did ask. “Um. I wanted to ask you about your ex. If that’s okay. It piqued my interest when it was brought up at Deidara’s.”

With his eyes somewhat squinted, Sasuke seemed to be cautiously deliberating how to deal with the question. “What do you want to know?”

“Just, like, some general stuff, I guess. I don’t know anyone who dated someone that older than them, and I was just wonderin’ what it’s like.”

Sasuke leaned further into the back of the sofa. “Hmm.” He eyed Naruto, as if sizing him up. Judging to see if he was worthy enough– that’s what it felt like. “I’ll be honest with you about this. Since we seem to be doing that with each other.”

Naruto dimly nodded.

“The truth is, we weren’t dating. I never said we were to those guys, but they assumed we were, so I never bothered to correct it.”

“Ha?” Raising a brow, Naruto sought an explanation. “What does that mean?”

Obviously having expected the reaction, Sasuke rubbed at his forehead, not delaying the details of the story. “We weren’t dating. But we weren’t what you’d call pals either. It’s hard to explain.”

“I’m all ears.” He quickly said, “If you wanna tell me, of course.”

Sasuke heaved a sigh. “You know he was Itachi’s friend. They hung out here occasionally, so I knew him. I wasn’t feeling particularly well one day when he was around, so we had a short talk while Itachi was away. It was a breath of fresh air to hear opinions from a different perspective.”

“Mhm.”

“He knew what it was like to feel not understood. Lost. I liked that I could turn to him for advice on matters I couldn’t share with anybody else. He was the only older person around who seemed to remember how it feels to be a teenager.”

Naruto interrupted him there. “How did you trust him that much to share personal stuff though? And I’m sure you could ask Itachi for advice. Or one of your friends.”

“Itachi? He’s… great about some things, and not so great about others. Highly unlikely that I’d resort to my friends as I never heard anything helpful when I consulted about my personal issues before.”

“What? Really?” Naruto huffed. “How’s that a friendship!?”

Shrugging, Sasuke gave a blank look. “That’s just how it is sometimes.”

“Man. That’s so messed up,” he commented, processing the information. It was just so different from his understanding of friendship and it broke his heart. Sasuke said he couldn’t talk to his friends. He couldn’t talk to his family. Was it seriously that there was not a single soul on a planet of seven billion people who cared to listen to a teenager’s thoughts and worries?

“Anyway. We started meeting outside after a point because it was difficult to have a proper talk with Itachi around. He didn’t always come up with the greatest advice, but I never heard anything bad from him. Like, he understood.”

“That sounds great and all. But what I’m not getting is why he took the role of your therapist.”

Sasuke tch’ed. “He did not. Problems with family were one thing we had in common. I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I told you he was on the verge of being disowned. As a role model, he was terrible, even I knew that much. I’m surprised they were friends with Itachi in the first place.”

“Maybe Itachi has a different side to him than he lets you see.”

“Who knows. But then again, he cut his bonds with Hidan eventually.”

“It had nothing to do with you, then.”

Sasuke shook his head. “No.”

“Hmm.”

It was tough not to deliberate why Sasuke had told a different story at Deidara’s.

“I wonder why Sai thought you two were dating.”

“Actually,” Sasuke paused to cough for a moment. “Hidan used to pick me up after school. Sai and Deidara saw that a few times.”

Naruto pursed his lips. “Did they really just presume you were dating him? Did they even know you were gay?”

“They did presume, yes, so they must have had an idea.” He was startled by the sound coming from the kitchen. Itachi must have started cooking.

“And you didn’t deny it.”

“At that time, I was incredibly puzzled about my sexual identity. It felt nice when they said it like it was just a normal thing. Something you’d hear every day. I had always been too stressed about the matter, like, what I would do if I was exposed somehow. I didn’t have the courage to come out myself, so it was like Deidara did it for me. It felt pleasant to be accepted for who I am for once.”

Naruto tore his eyes from where they were studying the cushions and directed them on Sasuke’s face. “Do you still see each other?”

“Hidan? No. He doesn’t live here anymore. I think he’s somewhere in Asia, training for a cult… or something.” He heaved a sigh, eyes not focused on anything, like he was taking a trip down the memory lane. “I cut ties with him when I heard something only he knew from Itachi. He wasn’t to be trusted, I should have known from the start. But the past is in the past.”

“Then it’s good you didn’t date him or anything, after all.”

“I wouldn’t date him even if there was an attraction. He wasn’t my type. And I felt like our senses of value would eventually clash.”

“Oh. I mean, I gotta say I’m kinda relieved because it rang some alarm bells when Konan called him a pedophile and… yeah. The age gap is too big, no?”

“I suppose.”

“Maybe he liked you. Romantically.”

Sasuke’s expression did not falter. “Even if he did, you can’t push all the other things he did aside and label him evil. Nobody’s intentions are fully white or black.”

Naruto noticed his leg bouncing up and down, a nervous habit he often spotted himself doing. Trying his best to calm his body’s physical reactions took a slight toll on him mentally as well as he currently had no other outlet to let the bad feeling in his stomach out. “I can’t understand the way you think sometimes.”

“It’s not that complicated. There’s good intentions mixed with selfish reasons, or vice versa.” He said it like it was the weather forecast or the local news of the day. “It’s just human behavior.”

“So you’re saying nobody helps someone just for the sake of helping them?”

Sasuke gave him a blank look. “Basically.”

“ _No_. You can do that. I do it. If I give a homeless man 5 bucks, how come that makes me selfish?

“You do it for the sake of feeling good about yourself. _I helped someone, I’m a good person_. Most of the time it’s more or less ego masturbation.”

Naruto scoffed. “That’s just stupid. I do feel good, yes. But it’s only because I helped someone. I know they won’t go to bed on an empty stomach at night.”

“You’re just putting your conscience at ease by doing that. You wouldn’t buy them a full-course dinner, would you? You do enough to make yourself feel good, and leave it at that.”

“Still. Okay, another example. Let’s just say someone I know asked me to help them with their homework, and I did. How is _that_ egocentric?”

“You’re hoping they will do the same for you, maybe, Or maybe they did it to you in the past? And you’re feeling like you owe them. We could do this all night, Naruto, and I would come up with something for every example you’d give.”

“Maybe you just don't understand the concept of helping out, then.” His leg was acting up again.

“I understand it perfectly,” retorted Sasuke, annoyance clear in his tone. “I don’t believe relationships later formed in life can be impeccably supportive.”

“Nothing has to be perfect. But it seems like you don’t understand the concept of friendship either.”

“Oh, I don’t? I’ve been let down by people so many times. If that’s what you call a friendship, I don’t need it.” His face was wrinkled in the start of a chuckle, but it was a cold one.

Naruto grimaced. How the hell had they started arguing? Moreover, Sasuke’s ideas on friendship and life were the polar opposite of what Naruto had been taught and believed his entire life. Till the end, he would stand up for them, but a single thought stopped him from starting a fight: he considered Sasuke a friend. Could it be that Sasuke had different ideas about the matter? If asked, Naruto felt like he would claim friendly bonds faulty or unneeded or whatever.

“So, what you’re saying is,” he started with a hoarse voice. “If I told you that you could come to me if you wanted to talk about anything, or just vent or somethin’. Instead of some older dude that sounds worryingly suspicious. That would be selfish of me.”

Sasuke hunched forward, bringing his face a little closer to Naruto’s, but there was still a significant amount of distance between them. “You make me sound like a charity case. I don’t like it.”

“What the fuck does that supposed to mean?” Naruto knew he sometimes tended to go a little overboard with his instinct of helping, but the way Sasuke phrased it made it sound like he was doing a terrible thing. Which was very upsetting to think about as Naruto considered his attentiveness to be one of his best merits.

“You’re always curious to learn more about me. Asking personal questions. Why’s that? Best offense is always a strong defense, they say.”

“What are you even-- I wanna know more about you because I like you. People wanna learn more about other individuals who they have an interest in. You’re my _friend_ , so I’m naturally interested in your life. And I would have loved to help you in any way I could. _Jesus_ , am I really explaining all this to you?”

Sasuke nonchalantly shrugged, as if he did not believe Naruto.

“You know what this looks like? You’re just afraid of making a bond. With me. You could have asked me tons of questions about my life and I would have answered them all, even if it took hours. And that would have made me happy. There’s nothing more natural than wanting to share parts of your life with someone you care about. You don’t understand the simplest thing about friendship, Sasuke, and they say you’re so clever.”

Itachi’s footsteps interrupted their little quarrel before it was Sasuke’s turn to speak. He peeked through the door, eyeing the two. “Everything okay here?”

“Yes. Everything’s fine,” declared Naruto, maybe a little too enthusiastically. His tone must have gotten quite loud if Itachi had heard him from the kitchen. He bolted to his feet then, a hand rubbing at his neck. “Actually, it’s getting late. I think I better go.”

Sasuke calmly stood up as well, eyes somber as he escorted Naruto through the hallway and to the front door. Naruto sensed the tension in the air bothered Itachi as well, but nothing could be done about it. Rather than outraged, he was more disappointed in Sasuke. He thought it was clear that he wore his heart on his sleeve. From what he understood by his words, it was like Sasuke did not know him at all.

“Be careful on your way back,” warned Itachi sweetly. “It’s pretty dark outside.”

“Ah. Don’t worry, I’ll be okay.”

“See you on Monday.” With that, he returned to the kitchen, back to cooking.

Sasuke was standing with his arms crossed, watching Naruto zip his coat up. “You don’t have a scarf or anything, do you?”

“No.”

“Take this,” was what Sasuke told as he put a scarf he grabbed from the hanger around Naruto’s neck. “It’s freezing.”

Naruto was hesitant to take it, but he ended up wrapping it properly. “Thank you.”

He bit his tongue about how Sasuke was contradicting himself, since it would be in vain as it would surely be denied. Or Sasuke would yet again come up with another theory and an excuse about why he did it, and Naruto didn’t want to hear it. 

He thought he saw Sasuke’s mouth open in an attempt to say something, but it was gone a second later, and they were just staring at each other’s face.

“Thanks for the cocoa as well. I liked it.” Naruto said awkwardly.

Sasuke stopped biting his lip to reply. “Don’t mention it.”

“’kay then.” He opened the door, facing the evening wind. “Whoa.” He turned around to see Sasuke one last time, and to bid goodbye. There was surprisingly no anger in his voice. “Bye, Sasuke. Good night.”

“Night.”

As he walked down the stairs and out the front yard, all he wanted to do was go home and sleep.

* * *

Naruto’s Monday started out gloomy enough as the pouring rain was enough to flood the whole street, but luckily enough Kushina’s shift at the library was early in the morning, so she dropped him at school. It was still a bit early, though, and that gave him plenty of time to idle around in the locker room.

Yet somehow, he still managed to be late for class. He blamed it on Kiba for bombarding him with information about a newly released video game.

The class was silent, and Itachi was sitting at the desk, not at the board as usual. He raised his head upon Naruto’s entrance and gave him a look behind his glasses. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Naruto said as he closed the door behind him. The front-row seat next to Sai was the closest, so he simply chose there. He expected some sort of reprimanding from Itachi (strike three, was it?) but the man did not seem to be worried about that sort of thing at the moment. In fact, Naruto was hoping he had forgotten about it entirely.

“Is everyone doing good?”

Shikamaru spoke for the class. “We’re good now. We weren’t so well last week when Kakashi was here.”

“I would like a repetition of last week’s lesson,” Shino stated. “By the way, when are we going to start the class?”

Itachi stood up. He clearly preferred to stand up when he had things to say. “In a minute. I’ll try to make up for last week. Sorry about my absence, I had some health issues going on. And I have an announcement to make.”

Naruto thought he heard a rumbling noise in the back, and he was met with the unamused face of Gaara when he tried to locate its resource. It was not the greatest sight to look at, so he tried redirecting his attention back to Itachi. As he turned his head, though, Sasuke entered his eyesight, and for some reason, Sasuke was looking back at him.

Without a reaction, he cut the eye contact. There was no genuine tension between them, nevertheless, Naruto did not feel like moving a single hair to make an effort to talk to Sasuke. This wasn’t what he would call giving the cold shoulder or even sticking out an attitude for the events of Saturday evening. What he felt was merely exhaustion from trying to connect to Sasuke. Whenever he felt a link, he later got the feeling that it was just him. It was like Sasuke made sure of it.

If there was going to be a bond between them at all, he had to see Sasuke trying. That was all.

Itachi cleared his throat to gather attention. “To put it simply, they found a proper teacher for this class. So, I’m going to stop teaching Japanese from now on.”

“What?”

“I told you guys in the beginning that I was chosen only because they couldn’t find a teacher in time. I was substituting all along.” He offered a smile to lighten the mood. “I’m sure your new teacher will teach this much better than I did. I didn’t receive formal education on how to teach Japanese, after all. But at least I can confidently say that I’ve tried my best.”

“I honestly wouldn’t know you’re not officially qualified if you hadn’t told us,” Chouji grumbled in melancholy. “I wish you could stay.”

“Trust me, I like this class. I really do. But it’s just my schedule. I couldn’t make enough time to study the material I was using to teach you myself.”

Sasuke unpredictably spoke up. “I think it’s for the best.”

Itachi exhaled lightly. “Probably. I’ll teach this week’s classes, too. Shino, I’ll cover what I was planning to teach last week as well. And we can do a final reading session on Thursday.”

Shino gave a curt nod, his completely buttoned-up coat covering his chin and mouth.

“We better get started then.”

As Itachi started copying the material onto the board, Naruto was hit by a wave of sorrow. Somehow, things were changing, and he didn’t like it.

* * *

For the reason that they covered so many topics, the class lasted for about twenty minutes more than it normally would have. By the time Itachi decided to call it quits and let them go, it was already lunchtime.

Some of the students gathered around the teacher’s desk to talk to Itachi. Naruto wasn’t one of them, he thought he could always find Itachi to talk to if he wanted to. Plus, it would have been a challenge to get a proper word through amongst so many people anyhow.

As he put his things in his backpack, Sakura’s voice got him sidetracked. She was at the door, talking to Shikamaru animatedly about something, though it was most probably about one of their AP classes. He zipped up and walked over to their side, and Sakura gave him a pat on the arm.

“Hi,” he greeted her, as cheerful as he could.

Shikamaru left as their conversation was over, and Sakura turned to Naruto, pulling at the sleeves of her dark red sweater. “Hi. You haven’t been replying to any of our texts, so I came to pick you up. Karin’s made cookies.”

“I haven’t checked my phone at all. Sorry you came all the way here,” he apologized as he pulled out his phone from the pocket of his jacket he had on. Certainly, he had a few dozens of texts from their group chat.

“It’s alright. French classroom was closed anyway. There’s going to be a test on Thursday, so I have to skip Biology.”

“Test? Ah. We’re lucky in that department, Itachi’s given our grades based on class participation.”

“Isn’t that bad for you though?” Sakura joked.

Naruto’s bottom lip was stuck-out like a little kid. “I’m super great in Japanese, y’know.”

“Are you, really?”

Naruto was in fact taken aback that Sasuke had come to talk to them, and butted into their banter. He just… hadn’t really expected Sasuke to do that. “I am. Compared to the other classes I take.”

“Good for you, then.”

Naruto had to take a step to the side so Sasuke was not just talking behind him.

“How have you been, Sakura?”

Sakura’s posture changed slightly, to a more straightened and confident one. “Ah. The usual, you know. Dealing with classes.”

“Hm. Don’t overwork yourself.”

“I won’t,” she smiled, her hands joined together in front of her. Naruto felt like a mere spectator up until Sasuke said goodbye, verbally to Sakura, but his eyes were on Naruto until a second before he left.

“Since when does he ask people how they have been?” He mused out loud.

Sakura looked at him as if he’d said something strange. “He asks me occasionally. It’s nothing new.”

“…Okay.” He shifted his weight from one foot to another. “You said Karin made cookies?”

“Yes! They’re waiting for us over at the Spanish classroom. Come on.”

* * *

“These. Are. So. Good.”

Kiba was speaking with his mouth full, but the pieces of cookies that flew in Karin’s direction did not piss her off as much after the compliment. “I’m glad you liked them,” she said, neutrally.

Naruto was studying the half-bitten piece of oatmeal chocolate chip cookie between his fingers. “I didn’t know you baked.”

“I didn’t. This is like my third time doing it. I think I’m decent at it though.”

“Chewy,” was what Hinata said. She was still chewing on her first cookie while everyone was on their seconds or even thirds, so it was a statement believable enough.

Sakura also seemed to like it. “What did you put in it?”

“You know, the usual stuff. Eggs, flour, oats, there’s some cinnamon as well. Oh! There’s no sugar in it. None.”

“Why’s it sweet then?” Kiba questioned.

“Because of the honey. It’s a healthier alternative. That’s why I started baking anyway. All the store-bought stuff has tons of sugar and some other shit. It’s not good for my body.”

“You should send me the recipe.”

Naruto absentmindedly watched Lee lick the crumbs on his fingertips as he took another bite.

Neji had had two cookies, but didn’t seem like he would continue eating. “So. How are things with Kabuto?”

Karin dusted off the crumbs fallen on her skinny jeans. “Not bad. We’ve decided to meet on Wednesday, after school. I’m gonna _give him a shot_ , like you said.”

Hinata raised her groomed eyebrows. “You’re seeing Kabuto?”

“Yup. But nothing’s for sure yet.”

“I’m happy for you,” she covered her mouth with a hand as she spoke. “Do you think he’s friends with, what was his name--”

Kiba completed the sentence for her, “Kimi-Moomoo.”

“Hah! That’s disrespectful,” Naruto cackled. “He’s my teammate. I shouldn’t be laughin’.”

Smiling, Hinata lay her elbows on the desk, hands on her skinny arms, loosely hugging herself. “I think he could be a good match for you, Sakura.”

Taken by surprise, Sakura’s face was a baffled one. “Really?”

“He seems like a hard worker. And he has a serious face on whenever I see him. It’s just a feeling I have. What do you guys think?”

Karin’s shoulders moved lightly. “I don’t know him. No idea.”

Naruto opted to keep silent. If there was going to be a conversation around potential boyfriends for Sakura, he didn’t really want to be a part of it. Nobody acknowledged noticing his muteness, but he was watching Lee play with the sleeve of his jumpsuit and never said a word.

Neji patted Lee’s shoulder once, then leaned back in his seat, showing lack of comfort. “Leave her alone, Hinata. She’s made her choice.”

Hinata barely ever spoke back against anyone, much less her cousin. Its reason was unbeknown to Naruto, but he guessed it had something to do with the way she was raised. But this time, she did. “Sakura should tell me if I’m upsetting her by talking about this.”

Sakura glanced at Neji, then at Hinata. “I’m not… disturbed. But… I don’t know.”

“I don’t like seeing you suffer because of a boy who doesn’t care. That’s all. Just… don’t be the girl in every Taylor Swift song.”

Karin gave Sakura a half-hug, and there were some murmurs. Sakura seemed overall very confused about what the appropriate thing to say would be. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine, really,” is what she uttered when the words did not stop.

“See?” Neji said innocently. “She’s fine.”

Hinata’s badly disguised frown indicated anything but joy. Naruto understood how distressing it must be for Sakura to have her love life conversed out in the open like it was a public debate, but she was handling it well. “I don’t think it’ll happen, but I’d rather wait. At least until we no longer get to see each other. Then I’ll be convinced that I have no chance at love with Sasuke.”

The banter was no longer noteworthy to heed attention to. “Can we just let it drop?” Naruto whined, unable to take any longer.

Neji exhaled. “I’m quite sure he’s gay, anyway.”

Naruto saw a few faces freeze in confusion, and he felt puzzled himself that the topic was brought up abruptly. But it was Karin who dared to break the silence and say the inevitable thing: “What?”

“It’s just a feeling.”

Karin didn’t let anybody else take the lead. “That sorta feeling doesn’t fall from the sky, does it? Wait. I thought it was bullshit when I heard that rumor about Sasuke’s boyfriend because there was a similar one about Itachi. But… What if it was true? What if they’re gay?”

Kiba’s mouth was half-open. “I think you’re jumping into conclusions there. Nards, you talk to Sasuke. You think he’s gay?”

All eyes turned on him, Naruto felt chills run down his spine. All this time, Neji had never said a word about his so-called gut feeling, but of course he’d chosen _now_ to unravel the secrets. “I don’t—”

“I’ll do more research into this,” Karin announced. “No stones will be left unturned. Naruto, you’re my partner in crime. You in?”

Karin looked excited to have a new piece of gossip to explore, but Naruto’s moment of hesitation faltered the grin on her face as he thought how unethical it would have been to do this sort of thing behind Sasuke’s back, no matter how upset he was with him theoretically.

A few moments later, the rang bell. Karin was up and away in a second to escape helping with cleaning the desk, and behind her, Sakura’s green eyes were questioningly staring at Naruto.


	9. Rock, paper, scissors?

Gai had decided it would be best to put the extra practice hours on Wednesday and Thursday after school, leaving them only Monday free to rest. Naruto could feel the toll fatigue had started to take on his body, but on the other hand, it kept his mind off of things, so he had no complaints.

Three days had passed ever since Neji had laid the audacious allegation on Sasuke. It was the first period, Literature, and he kept dozing on and off. In the seat next to him, Kiba was religiously scrolling down on Twitter. They had done practically all they could to keep themselves entertained without making any noise, and it was now time for individual activities - it was not like they would last more than 5 minutes listening to the teacher. It felt pointless after a while to try to find a pastime, so Naruto put his head down on the desk sideways, on his arms, watching the rest of the classroom hazily.

Most of the students had their eyes on the teacher, like Sakura, who was earnestly paying attention and even taking notes. Her hair was in loose waves, and she occasionally made a funny face when she was making extra effort to take in some information that the teacher gave. It was not maybe the greatest view to behold, but Naruto honestly liked watching Sakura. To him, it was the same as examining a model in some beauty catalog.

Loving Sakura was what had kept him endeavored many times over the years. He had studied for tests because he’d thought Sakura would consider him cool. He had avoided fights, because Sakura had told him to behave, and he’d gotten an expensive haircut that he eventually decided to stick with because of how many compliments he had received at the end.

The more he thought about it, the worse the feeling in the pit of his stomach got. The concerns he had about how Sakura thought of him had created a whole new better version of him, and he had only barely begun to realize that he had been holding onto it like a lifeline - so much to a point that it was like a bad, made-up religion.

That made him wonder the reason why he had held onto an admiration in the first place. When they had moved to this town, Naruto had been in a pretty bad place mentally. Whenever he recalled his days in junior high, the loneliness and the pain, combined with losing one of the dearest people in life… He felt hollow. But when he thought of the friends he’d made here, it flourished a fond feeling inside him. These people had made him realize he was a part of society, not just a wallflower who was doomed to be alone forever. Here, he was accepted, and he felt like he belonged. And as it was in his nature, he wanted to give more than he took to the people around him who had made him take a 180 turn for the better. 

All of this made sense, that he’d chosen a cover to become a better version of himself. And that led him to think that at this point, he wasn’t really _in love_ with Sakura. Not anymore. But he didn’t want to move on either because that was the only kind of romantic love he knew of. It was one-sided, a safe place for him since there was no chance of a breakup, or even a quarrel. His devotion to Sakura had established an ideal alibi to stay in his comfort zone. But because of that, compared to his peers, he had almost no experience in relationships. The fact that he still tried to keep hold of it made him feel like a weakling, afraid to take a fall. But then again, he couldn’t put blame on himself that he’d never recognized his feelings had changed over time because the affection was still there. Just… not in the old form.

“Dude, check this out.”

Kiba’s constant prodding on his back raised him from his little cloud of thought. Without even realizing, he’d drifted off.

“What is it?” He rubbed at an eye as he eyed the meme Kiba was too excited about. He couldn’t care less about that sort of thing at the moment, though, and his droopy eyelids agreed, so taking advantage from the fact that Kiba was saying something to Hinata who sat in the back row, he laid the device down on the desk without giving it a proper look.

When Kiba rotated back, he prodded Naruto’s arm again. “You’re comin’ over after school, right? My sister’s gonna be out. I was thinkin’ we could order pizza.”

“Today? Isn’t it Thursday? Kibs, I can’t. I’ve got practice.”

Kiba’s mood immediately went south. “ _Nooo!_ ”

“I forgot to tell you. Sorry,” he childishly stuck out his lips. “I only have Monday.”

“But that was three days ago.”

“We can do something next week?” He spun his pencil robotically.

“Okay dude, but don’t bail on me.” Kiba leaned back, looking at the blackboard with squinted eyes, but Naruto doubted he actually gave it a read. “When’s the match anyway?”

“We’ll enter several. They start in three weeks. After that is the holiday break. There’s no guarantee we’ll make it to the last matches, though, so there’s a possibility it’ll end sooner.”

“Hmm. Maybe you’ll get lucky.” Kiba scraped his palm. “My palm’s itchy. I hope this brings me cash ‘cause I really could use some.”

Some girls were apparently eavesdropping as they snickered. Naruto couldn’t help but join them with a hushed guffaw.

Kiba ignored them. “You think Karin brought any snacks today? I kinda need a pick-me-up.”

Naruto shook his head. “Don’t think so. We’ll get you somethin’ in the break.”

* * *

As the last period of Thursday, Japanese had been something Naruto looked forward to. That was until the change of its course with Itachi’s announcement.

Hearing that the new teacher would arrive next week really pulled at his heart. With that in mind, he tried to enjoy his last class with Itachi for the term and truly focused on what they were reading instead of being irritated with the worryingly realistic penis jottings Sai kept drawing on Naruto’s worksheets. He, of course, also had the indecency to write _dickless_ beneath that all.

After it was all said and done, including the goodbyes and an encouraging speech delivered by Itachi, Naruto left the classroom with a heavy heart. On his way to the gym, he walked down the corridor, in the direction of the staircase. Until a familiar voice called out to him from behind.

“Stop, dickless.”

“Will you stop calling me that?” snapped Naruto, pausing in his tracks, trying to disregard the creeped out faces the other students made at the lovely nickname Sai called him with. “With people around, at least.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Goodbye, then.”

His footsteps got hastier, but so did Sai’s. By the time he was two stories down, Sai was still in his tail, and it did not seem that he’d give up anytime soon. Fed up with that, he decided to figure out Sai’s intention so he would be set free. “What.”

Sai pursed his lips, innocently shrugging. “Why are you being mean?”

“You’re literally stalking me.”

“That’s because you wouldn’t listen to what I had to say.”

Taking a deep breath, Naruto put a hand on the railing. “I’m listening. Shoot.”

“I was just going to ask if you’re hungry. We’re going to try out a hotdog stand one of the kids in Deidara’s class suggested. It’s close.”

He tried to read Sai’s face, but it was just so neutral. “I have practice. You really followed me just to ask this?”

“Yes. I did.”

Naruto scowled. “I gotta be back in thirty minutes.”

Sai gave a glance at the duffel bag that was hanging from Naruto’s arm. “Then you better drop that off quickly. Meet you in the courtyard?”

“…Fine.”

After leaving his belongings in the gym, in a locked cupboard, he met up with the couple and they took off. What Sai meant by _close_ , in fact turned out to be nearby, only about 2 short blocks away from the school, right across a stadium which Naruto didn't know existed as it was fairly tiny and had this insignificant appearance that made it look more like a museum - not that Naruto considered museums insignificant.

They all ordered one hot dog to see if they would like it. Sai got one without mustard because of his allergy, and Deidara skipped on the sauces entirely. Naruto was delighted with the generous amount of condiments, though.

Soon, they were in seats placed for the upcoming local winter festivals across the stadium. “Where’s Konan and Kimimaro?” asked Naruto as he licked ketchup off of his thumb.

Deidara swallowed his bite before answering the question. “Konan’s on a diet. But I have no idea about Kimimaro. Haven’t seen him all day. Hm.”

“I wonder if he’ll come to the practice.”

Sai wiped his mouth with a napkin, already done with his hot dog. “It was good. We should come here again sometime.”

“And it’s cheap,” Deidara said as he took another bite. Sai had an arm around the other boy, and he happily looked at Naruto.

“Okay, what is it? You’re being weird.”

“Stop scaring Naruto,” Deidara grumbled.

“I’m not scaring him.”

Naruto raised his brows in disbelief. “Just say it, man.”

“I made it to the semi-finals in the art contest.”

“…That’s awesome!” He loudly clapped. “Shit! Why didn’t you say it before? Good job!”

Sai seemed overwhelmed by the reaction, like he hadn’t been expecting it. “I only found out this morning. Thank you.”

“I’m so happy for you. Gaaah.” He childishly smiled at Sai, who still seemed puzzled about how to respond to that sort of thing, but Naruto didn’t really mind.

Deidara snickered while he wiped his hands. “He insisted on telling you himself.”

It was little things like this that made Naruto feel damn grateful about being around people. Sai was someone most wouldn’t be able to get along with, and he definitely put Naruto out at times. But the more he got to know him, the more believed that Sai tried hard to be a good friend.

“You didn’t really need to chase me around. You could’ve just told me you had something to say and you wanted to say it elsewhere. Or something.” He watched Sai’s adept fingers reach for one of the extra napkins and start folding it. “It’s fine, though.”

“Actually, I’m the one who asked him to invite you. I was talking to the counselor so I couldn’t do it myself.” He turned to Sai, giving him a meaningful look, but Sai was too focused on his origami to see it. “You didn’t have to _chase_ him, honey.”

“Hah. Wait, counselor? What’s up?”

“I’m regularly invited by various individuals in our school to talk about my grades and my future. Nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve been told for the fourth time that I need to take my SATs again, so that’s great.”

Sai was finally done with his paper napkin water lily, and he offered it to Deidara.

Naruto was watching the two intently as Deidara lightly kissed Sai on the cheek and started spinning the lily in his hands. “So, Naruto. What’s up with you, hm? Anything new? We haven’t talked since you left with Sasuke on Saturday.”

“Ah. Yeah. Come to think of it.” He lightly kicked at the leg of Sai’s seat with his boot. “I’ve been doing basketball practice. And that’s about it. Nothing interesting happened lately.”

“Really? Nothing happened on Saturday?” Sai questioned.

“Huh?” Naruto looked up into Sai’s eyes. It sounded like a genuine question rather than an insinuating one. “No. I dropped him off at his house. And he made me hot cocoa.”

“Then why did you keep shooting daggers at him? And he didn’t spare you one single look. It was kind of boring.”

Naruto denied. “I wasn’t shooting anything at him. And why were you watching us anyway?”

“Because it’s fun.”

Deidara sighed. “Don’t worry about him, he watches everyone. Now, I don’t know whatever happened with you two, but I think you’re a good influence on Sasuke. It sounds stupid coming out of my mouth. Hm. But it’s true.”

“How come?” Naruto probed. “I don’t do anything special.”

“How should I know? Must be your natural aura, or something.”

Sai hummed. “Or maybe it’s because he likes you.”

Naruto laughed. “I think you guys are overexaggerating this a little.” His phone vibrated in his pocket, and when he checked it, he realized he didn’t have much time left to go back to school. “Uh. I gotta head back.”

Deidara pouted slightly. “I didn’t get to hang out with you. Anyway, we’ll catch up later.”

“Sounds good.”

Sai was snickering at Naruto. “Deidara, maybe we should have joined the basketball team, after all. Sweaty, half-naked men, all gathered together. It must be fun there.”

Deidara rolled his eyes. “There’s always a gym if you’re after that.”

Already up and going, Naruto gave the two a quick wave. “Hah. Catch you later, lovebirds.”

* * *

Next week, Wednesday’s practice got canceled last minute due to some business Gai had to attend to. Kabuto had informed all the team members that he would be present without Gai if anyone wanted to come, but it was no wonder that nobody had shown up, except for Lee and Naruto. With his never-ending energy, Lee was always ready to do some jumping around with a ball, and Naruto was there because he thought he could use some extra time to learn good tips from Kabuto. If he wanted to excel at this, he felt like he had to work a little bit more.

More often than not, they took their time when they were on the court, because Gai liked to teach everything properly. But both Lee and Naruto knew all the basics by now, and just about half an hour later, it started to feel like they were treading water with the moves they repeated over and over again.

Kabuto was squinting his eyes unnaturally in an attempt to see them better, since he had his glasses off. “That’s about enough for today. You two should take the rest of the day off and rest your muscles.”

“We were just getting started,” Lee said with a gloomy face. “Our youthful bodies don’t get tired so easily.”

“Suit yourself. I have things I need to take care of.”

Lee didn’t seem happy with the news. “There’s no point in practicing without a captain.” He scratched at his black, sweat-soaked hair, and shook his head. “Guess I’m actually going to rest today.”

Kabuto nodded. “Good. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Stress won’t help you in any way.”

Flashing a broad grin, he happily hopped over to the dressing room. Naruto was still bouncing the ball with both hands.

“You’re not leaving?”

“Actually,” Naruto caught the ball between his fingers. “You mind if I stay here for a bit longer? I have nothing else to do today. And I’ve been meaning to try out that spin move for a while.”

“I don’t mind, no. But I’ve got to lock the doors. Gai handed me the keys.”

“Oh. Okay then.”

Kabuto softly breathed out. “If you promise to properly lock up when you’re done. And hand the keys to the janitor.”

Naruto smiled. “No worries. I’ll take care of it.” 

The keys were in the pocket of Kabuto’s jacket, and he passed them over to Naruto. “Don’t overwork yourself, kiddo.”

“Heh. Thank you, Kabuto. I owe you.”

“You’re welcome, though I should be the one thanking you.” He looked away for a moment and waved to Lee, who was taking his leave already. “I’m meeting Karin tomorrow. Since it’s my only day off after school.”

“Really? Good luck, then. She can be a little handful, don’t let that intimidate you.”

Chuckling, Kabuto gave Naruto a meaningful look. “Oh, I know. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

Ten minutes later, Kabuto was also gone, leaving Naruto in an empty gym. Inside a room that spacious, his voice would echo like crazy if he shouted. Every time the ball hit the floor, it reverberated loudly, and along with the squeaky noises his sneakers made, those were the only things he heard. It felt kind of lonely.

Nevertheless, he dropped the keys he was carrying somewhere and went back to the court. The spin move proved to be quite tricky like Gai had warned, and the only ones who could do it without looking like a clown were Kabuto and Kimimaro anyway, so he didn’t mind. He just felt like it was worth a try, so he chose to focus on it.

It felt like an unheard approach to meditation as he failed and tried, over and over again, without faltering. He did not have an opponent, but so be it. He imagined having one. A couple of times he stumbled and kissed the floor, but even that was not enough to get him to stop.

Passing his time like that, he did not take a single break until he heard the door opening. It was impossible not to pay attention to it as the gigantic door’s hinges desperately needed lubricating, and he didn’t have to glance at its way for too long with the ball on the ground to spot the intruder.

“Am I interrupting?”

“Sort of,” he was slightly out of breath as he admitted, leaning down to take hold of the ball. He then squeezed it to his chest with both arms. “What’s up?”

Sasuke stopped looking from the crack like a toddler peeking at something he shouldn’t, and walked in, closing the door behind himself. His eyes searched for the others, but it was futile. “Is it just you?”

Naruto wiped the sweat off with his arm. “Yep.”

With slow but steady steps, Sasuke sauntered to Naruto’s side. His eyes were scrutinizing the place at the same time. “I haven’t been here in a long time. Nothing’s changed.”

“There’s not much to change in a gym,” Naruto shrugged. He bounced the ball a few times, but decided the noise was suddenly too sharp.

“Hm.” Sasuke had his bag and coat with him. Under Naruto’s perplexed gaze, he shifted it from one arm to another.

“What time is it?”

“Little past 5.”

Naruto looked around for a clock to confirm, but there was none on the walls. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the art club?”

“Sai’s taking care of things today. I got bored, so I left.”

“I see.” Not quite sure how to act, he stared at the hoop. “There’s nothing interesting here, though.”

Sasuke huffed, the sound barely perceptible. “I know. I wanted to talk to you. I’ve heard Gai’s called off the practice.”

“Yeah. We practiced with Kabuto and Lee for a while.”

Sasuke looked around in startle. “They’re here?”

“No, they’re gone. It’s just me. I wanted to practice this one move, so I stayed. But it’s super hard. I haven’t made much progress.”

“Can I watch?”

Naruto raised a brow. “You want to? It’s embarrassing. I suck at it. Like, really. I’m not bein’ humble.”

“I don’t mind. In fact, don’t let me interrupt you. I’ll just sit there,” he pointed at the bleachers.

“I mean…” he desperately had his brain looking for an excuse, even a lame one would work, but there was nothing he could come up with. “Alright.”

Sasuke seemed pleased, already making his way to choose a seat. Naruto didn’t allow his eyes to wander around to see where. He really did not want to be distracted, especially by Sasuke.

Jokes on him, Sasuke proved to be too much of a distraction.

For another fifteen minutes, he kept up with what he had been doing. There were one or two times he’d gotten the move right, or at least he thought he did a decent job, but the other times were as awful as when he’d first done it, or maybe even worse, and he blamed it on the feeling of being watched – although he did not even know if he was actually being watched.

Thirsty was his defense to call it quits finally, and he was starting to get tired anyway. Surprisingly, he had done a good job at keeping his eyes off Sasuke, who was doing God knows what over in the very back row (which Naruto noticed as he downed half of his water bottle). He took his time using the shower, too, though he didn’t think it was more than ten minutes at most despite his best efforts.

When he got out refreshed and in clean clothes, Sasuke was still in his previous seat. His head was hung low, sparing Naruto no clue about what he was doing.

Only when he began to ascend the stairs Sasuke looked up to see he was out of the dressing room. The closer Naruto got, he was able to see the pencil in Sasuke’s hand, and the notebook on his lap. Without commenting on any of that, he took a seat, one seat empty between them. His feet were on top of the row in the front. Eyes on his slightly dirtied Converse sneakers, he initiated the conversation. “You said you wanted to talk. What did you wanna talk about?”

“What’s with that attitude?” Sasuke’s voice was soft, the tone maybe playful. Naruto didn’t sense evil intentions behind it, or mockery of some sort, like most of the time.

“Mhm. I’m not putting up an attitude. Just a little tired out is all.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Sasuke fold his leg and angle his body left, so he faced Naruto. “What do you think of this?”

Tentatively, he took the notebook Sasuke held out for him. It was a lined page, a school notebook. Instead of words, there was a doodle on the center of the page, a sketch of a boy playing basketball – a spitting image of Naruto.

“Wow.” He scrutinized it a bit more before returning the notebook. “It’s… good.”

Sasuke didn’t seem gratified by the answer, but he didn’t push it. “It was an inspiring moment. Watching you try hard for something you aim for.”

“I’m sure you could find more inspiring things than watching me fail over a move, like, a hundred times.”

“Truth is, I have zero knowledge regarding basketball. I wouldn’t be able to tell.”

Naruto snorted. “Something you don’t know. That is unheard of.” He pushed his hands into the pockets of his baggy sweatshirt, shooting Sasuke a glance. His clothing was in black, a sight Naruto’s eyes were accustomed to, but his Temper Trap shirt was pretty enough to take the flatness away. He contemplated if he should say it out loud or not, but in the end, he went for it. “I like your shirt.”

“Thank you. I designed this one myself. All the ones on the market were too mainstream. Copy of the same design over and over.” He started looking around again when silence fell. “You’re awfully quiet today.”

Naruto put his legs down. “I guess.”

“Is that it, then? You’ve given up on trying to communicate with me.”

“I didn’t give up on anything.” He finally met Sasuke’s gaze. “Like I’ve said. Just tired.”

“Look, I’m sorry.”

“It’s… it’s not about that. I just feel like we don’t have a common ground on what we expect from this to be. Honestly, I can’t tell what you think. Or feel. And you don’t seem to understand what I feel at all.” He shrugged. “There’s nothing controversial about wanting to be someone’s friend. But it seems like you think otherwise.”

Sasuke unhurriedly bobbed his head up and down, playing with his leather wristband. “Possibly, I was wrong. My views are just based on my experiences so far.”

“So you’ve had shitty friends in the past.”

“Apparently.”

Naruto threw his head back so he was facing the ceiling. It could use a renovation, the paint was falling off.

“Will you teach me? How this is supposed to be?”

“Teach you? And I thought I couldn’t be any more shocked,” Naruto laughed, followed by a yawn. He stretched his arms as he turned in his seat. “There’s nothing to be taught, really. You should move according to your feelings. I’m not saying discard logic entirely, but what your heart thinks is important. If you can’t understand your own feelings, you’ll never understand someone else’s.”

His brows furrowed in thought, Sasuke repeated. “My feelings?”

“Yeah! Stop overthinking into what people do. Stop being afraid of what’s to come. There’s gonna be good stuff and bad stuff. But you’re ruinin’ all the good stuff by focusing on the bad.”

“That’s just human nature. To focus on the negative.”

Shaking his head, Naruto folded his arms. “So be it. What’re you gonna do? Sulk over the bad experiences for the rest of your life? I think I’ve told you before, but I had literally zero friends until I moved here. Zero. Like, I was lonely to a point that it made me happy to be _bullied_ because it meant someone acknowledging my existence. I felt like a fucking ghost. But I put the past behind me. Should I take revenge from everyone who wronged me? Should I, I don’t know, stop existing?”

Sasuke was biting at a nail. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know, but,” Naruto despairingly breathed out. “Well. It made me feel like shit when you said all that stuff at your place. I felt like the bad guy when all I tried to do was to be your friend. I don’t think I did anything to deserve such treatment.”

There was guilt in Sasuke’s eyes. “Yes.”

“Let that negativity disappear for a while and live a little. What’s the worst that could happen?” His eyes drifted down to Sasuke’s shirt again. “ _Reckless abandon. Like no one’s watching you_.”

“Did you just quote…?”

“Yeah. Anyway.” He laughed it off. “All I’m asking you to do is be honest with me. Real honest. Because that’s what I do. I’m not interested in putting masks on and pretending to be people we’re not.”

“It’s not as easy as it sounds.”

He smiled. “I know. It’s okay. We’ll take it easy. Start by dropping the thought that everyone’s plotting somethin’ against you. This is real life, not Gossip Girl, y’know.”

It was almost as if Sasuke felt embarrassed that he snorted at that. “Idiot.”

“Aaand you’re back!” Naruto slapped Sasuke on the wrist.

“I’ve never met someone like you before,” was what Sasuke confessed once their laughter died down. He was half-smiling still, but he was giving Naruto this look that wasn’t at all familiar in any way.

“To be honest, I should be saying the same. But me? Why? I’m pretty normal. I tend to blabber a lot, and I get too touchy-feely sometimes. But that’s about it.”

“Yes. You do.” He looked down at his lap, letting out another chuckle. “You really do.”

“That’s me. By the way, have you had anything to eat? We can grab something together if you want. I’m starvin’.” It was almost unreal how quickly they had patched things up. Naruto had, again, chosen to believe in someone’s honesty. This time, he felt like he was not going to be disappointed.

Sasuke checked his watch. “Sure. We’ve been here almost an hour. No wonder you’re hungry.” He grabbed the notebook he’d put aside earlier to place it in his bag.

Naruto stopped him. “Can I give that one last look?” He scooted over to the empty seat between them. Sasuke’s folded leg was pressing to the side of his own.

“Hmm.”

“Can’t believe you drew this in 15 minutes. I was moving all the time, too. Heh.”

“You can keep it if you want.”

“Nah. It’s yours. You can hug it to your chest when you’re lonesome at night.”

Sasuke slapped Naruto’s thigh with the notebook. “In your dreams.”

“I wish I had artistic talents. I could make you a present. That box you gave me is really cool. I wanna repay you.”

After zipping his bag, Sasuke checked on his phone. “Don’t worry about it. What do you want to eat?”

“Anything’s fine. You have something in mind?” A drop of spit flew across accidentally and landed on Sasuke’s face. “Shit. Sorry.” He wiped it away with his hand, feeling his face go hot from the mortification. Not the greatest situation to be in.

“It’s okay.”

“Sorry,” he said again, a finger still rubbing at Sasuke’s chin. “Fuck. It’s the second time I’m wiping something off of your face. Weird.”

Without realizing, he had gotten closer to Sasuke. Or was it Sasuke who had shifted near? Either way, their faces were… close. Alarmingly so.

“Sasuke?” The fragile feel of his voice sounded strange to his own ears. Something in the way Sasuke looked at him made his whole body freeze, and in that proximity to someone, it was difficult to think clearly.

Seconds felt like hours, but instead of moving away, Sasuke moved his face even closer to Naruto, enough that their noses were brushing against each other. Sasuke’s breath fanned across Naruto’s lips.

What the hell was happening?

“ _Sasuke?_ ” It was merely a whimper this time. Naruto’s hand rested on Sasuke’s chest a moment later, in a weak attempt to push him away. Under the thin shirt, Sasuke’s heart was beating fast, and the parts of Naruto’s fingers that touched above the collar felt the warmth spreading from the skin.

Before anything could happen, he used his last working brain cell and declared, “Mexican. We should get… Mexican. Yeah.”

Aroused from the moment, the look in Sasuke’s eyes waned, and he blinked a few times, dazed. Naruto was already up onto his feet, descending down the stairs in a stupor. It was good that he didn’t trip over and fall because that was about how dizzy he felt.


	10. Lost

Buried under a pile of schoolwork on top of extensive basketball training followed by the actual games, Naruto’s weeks flew by. The whole team had made impressive progress thanks to Gai’s skillful leadership and Kabuto’s persistence, but they hadn’t made it past the first three days of matches – which was not terrible at all. In fact, it was unpredictably fortunate according to Kimimaro. It made sense since they had trained only for about a month and a half, while the rival teams had been preparing since late summer.

With the basketball club training coming to a halt due to the test season, Naruto’s mundane school life was back. The only difference was that Saturdays were now Kiba day (it was a mutual decision on both Kiba and Naruto’s sides to avoid any slip-ups) and with the change of teachers for Japanese, he now had to study extra for tests instead of focusing on exposure to the language.

Kakashi was late again for Algebra. They were supposed to start the quiz about twenty minutes ago. The everyday commotion the class normally would have had in a free period wasn’t there – instead of making a ruckus, somehow everyone quietly minded their own business. It could be the winter blues, or because some of them actually cared about their grades and took the opportunity to study.

“Isn’t this guy taking a bit too many leaves from work for someone who insults us on a daily basis for laziness?”

It was Shikamaru, rightfully complaining. He sported a tired expression, eyes drooping. It wasn’t long before he pulled his phone out and started playing online chess. The tournaments would soon begin, so it was likely that he spent all his free time practicing.

Naruto and Kiba were sitting side by side, chatting quietly. Gaara was right in front of Naruto and appeared bored to death, but he sometimes joined them with a few curt words.

“They’re the biggest I’ve ever seen, I’m tellin’ you bro.” Kiba was insistent on discussing the new Japanese teacher’s breasts no matter how many times Naruto tried to change the topic. “I’m dead if Hinata sees me staring.”

“Then don’t look,” Naruto deadpanned.

Kiba made a face. “I just can’t take my eyes off them. Why’re you gettin’ all worked up anyway, Nards? You don’t like big boobs?”

“They’re nice. It’s just that we’ve been talking about this for the last fifteen minutes.”

Gaara nodded, worryingly slowly. “She has other aspects to her that you two can discuss. Like how she’s as nutty as a fruitcake.”

“ _ Great _ . That’s just what I needed to hear. A double-D going bonkers in a class I’m not in. Even Gaara gets to have fun.”

Gaara smirked devilishly. “True.”

“She’s not crazy, just a little heated. Well. It’s too soon to tell for sure,” said Naruto. “But I feel like we’d get along as long as we follow the rules.”

“Oh, I know! I’ll join you on Thursday. To see her in action. She won’t know I don’t take Japanese.”

“I think she’d notice. And you’d get a good scolding.”

“Well, that’s nothing new. It’ll be an adventure and I’ll be in a room with enough oxygen for all the people in it for a change.”

“You’re the one who picked Spanish, Kiba. Remember?”

Kiba grumbled. “Fuck me.”

They tried on a few Snapchat filters after that. It wasn’t interesting enough for Gaara, so he moved to another seat. There was a miserable attempt at trying to study for the quiz they would allegedly take as well, and if it weren’t for Kiba, Naruto would have pushed himself to continue. But Kiba’s attention span proved to be even shorter than Naruto’s as he started scribbling a copy of Tsunade’s breasts on the desk.

As he did so, Naruto’s eyes lingered over his face. A strong, sharp jawline he had, and his skin was tanned from always taking Akamaru out for a walk. His hair was scruffy like it had never been touched by a comb before. Overall, he looked fairly… normal. Attractive? Sure. But nothing that made Naruto feel exceptional.

“Why the fuck are you watching me?” Kiba spoke. He hadn’t glanced Naruto’s way at all. Naruto corrected himself for thinking Kiba’s attention span was short. Apparently, he could concentrate  _ and _ even be aware of his surroundings.

He pursed his bottom lip out, dissatisfied with the results of his small inspection. “I’m watching you.”

“Duh. I can tell.” Kiba dropped the pencil, eyeing his art like it was Da Vinci’s work. “You think they look similar to hers?”

“A spitting image. It’s almost disturbing. You perv, just for how long have you observed them to have such a vivid image in your head?”

“Long enough,” he grinned.

Suddenly, Naruto inched closer to Kiba, eyes narrowed down and calculating.

“Uhh. Naruto?”

“Hm?”

“You’re acting weird,” Kiba breathed out, peeking over his shoulder at the girls in the back who giggled at them. “You okay?”

It was pointless. Naruto pulled back, entirely disappointed. He needed answers. “Yeah. Hey, Kiba.” He lowered his voice. “I wanna ask you somethin’.”

Intrigued, Kiba put a serious face on. “Okay. Ask.”

“Do you ever…” Naruto cleared his throat, checking their surroundings to make sure nobody was within hearing distance. “Have you ever felt excited with a dude before?”

“The fuck!?” Kiba spat out, gathering a few glances his way. He took deep breaths before he went back to the discreet mode. “ _ I’m not gay!” _

Naruto made a gesture to hush him. “Calm down. I know.”

“Then, is it…?” His eyes grew impossibly large. “Me? You? Oh. My. God. Is that why you’ve been watching me? Dude! We’re best friends!”

“Kiba! Stop jumping into conclusions,” he scolded.

“You’re not in love with me?”

“Hell no.”

“Whew. That’s a relief,” Kiba’s face loosened.

“It’s not like that. I’m just asking. An entirely hypothetical question.”

“Hmm. Well.” Taking his time to think, Kiba stared at the sketch on the desk long and hard. Finally, he shook his head. “No. It’s not like I ever tried it with a guy, but. I don’t think I’d feel anything even if I did. Even if he touched me there. Why’re you askin’ again?”

“I’m just curious. So, you didn’t feel anything a minute ago when I pushed my face into yours?”

Kiba raised a brow. “Nope. Nothing.”

“You weren’t bothered?”

“I was kinda annoyed, yeah. Ever heard of something called personal space?”

“Mhmm. I see.” He tersely nodded.

“That was random, huh.”

“So, like, what would you do if I kissed you?”

Kiba seemed utterly confused and ready to run for the hills at that point. “Punch you, I think. Okay, this is getting straight-up creepy. Is that Sai guy telling you to ask me stuff like this?”

“No. Never mind.”

After all, Kiba had reached his limit with the questions. It evidently made no sense to him. Trying to laugh the eerie aura off, Naruto borrowed Kiba’s pencil. “Let me see if I can copy that.”

* * *

“I’m not eatin’ salad for dinner and that’s  _ final _ .”

Kiba’s nauseated tone ringing in the corridor stirred Naruto from his thoughts. The girls were insisting on eating something healthy for once after school, and if the pitch of Kiba’s voice was not an indicator of his hatred for raw vegetables, the terrified and grossed-out look on his face surely was.

Hinata wasn’t taking no for an answer. “You can have chicken with your salad. And they have dozens of dressing options. You can have a ranch dressing, you like ranch sauce.”

“Hinata. Baby. Dressing or not, it’s cow food. Jesus Christ.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “It’s all the greasy food he eats, Hinata. I suspect we’d find cheap cheddar for a brain if we cut his skull open.”

“Ain’t your mom upset over you eating trash all the damn time?” Karin probed. “Isn’t she some sort of nutritionist?”

“No, she’s a food inspector. I don’t give a shit, okay? I ate nothing but healthy food for years. I think my body can handle it. Nards, why the fuck aren’t you backing me up?”

Lee was getting impatient, waiting for their argument to be over on the side. “We’re running late.”

Naruto shrugged. “Right. I was planning to go talk to the counselor. You think he’ll accept me without an appointment?”

Karin’s eyes were questioning. “Counselor? You? Did you do something?”

“No, I just wanna ask a few questions. You guys go ahead.”

Karin seemed ready to interrogate, but Hinata dragged her away. Iruka’s room was on the top floor, and he was out of breath when he finally made it there. He knocked on the door once. Twice. No answer. He had climbed all the way for nothing.

He ended up visiting the teacher’s lounge to see if Iruka was there. He wasn’t, but Kakashi was, and he had a sadistic gleam in his eye that appeared out of nowhere when he caught sight of Naruto. “Caught ya. Aren’t you supposed to be in class, hm?”

“Uhh. I was looking for Iruka,” he said.

“He’s not here.”

Uneasily, he asked, “Do you know when he’ll be back?”

Kakashi pushed himself back along with the chair he was sitting in, the front legs of the chair dangerously raised above the ground. He had papers on the desk in front of him. “Probably not in a while. Would you like to help me with grading these while you wait? My eyes are getting blurry.”

“I should probably go, but good luck with that,” he said without letting go of the door handle. “I’ll come back later for Iruka if that’s okay.”

With a shrug, Kakashi went back to his business. Naruto didn’t feel like going back into the classroom for Biology, so he went to the locker room to get his stuff as it was the last period. He normally didn’t skip any classes, no matter how tedious some of them were, but he felt like going against the rules for just this once. He didn’t think he would be able to pay attention to class even if he tried. Lazing around in a toilet stall to not get caught sounded stupid, and as he tried thinking of a new alternative, he remembered seeing Konohamaru’s class play basketball in the courtyard earlier. It was unheard of for an outsider to join a random PE class just because he knew someone there, and it certainly didn’t give him the right, but Gai wouldn’t mind terribly now, would he. It would be an impeccable disguise for Naruto.

When he made it to the mini court, it turned out that Gai had instructed them to keep playing while he was indoors to deal with paperwork, so his plan worked without a hitch. He effortlessly found a position for himself in the game in a matter of seconds.

But not everyone was content with that. Before the second quarter began, Konohamaru clearly expressed that he was bothered by Naruto suddenly joining without asking, but his protests were silenced by the female members of his class. Naruto could understand why. When he joined, it changed the balance of power for the other team. As for more personal reasons, Konohamaru liked the attention. They were similar in that area. 

As one of the bright members of the school basketball team, he was probably the centerpiece in PE. Naruto knew it perfectly, and by entering the game, he was disrupting that. Naturally, the attention had turned to him because he was older and a new face in that crowd. It was written all over Konohamaru’s face that he didn’t enjoy that in the slightest. But so what? Couldn’t he just take one for the team and suck it up –  _ the team being Naruto only _ , but in his defense, he always helped Konohamaru with various things.

He taught them some moves and did a little showing off for about half an hour until the bell rang.

“Thanks for playing with us!” Udon shouted as he walked away. He was one of the weakest links of the team, but he was progressing.

“No worries! Let’s play again sometime.” He trapped the ball between his arm and his body, waving goodbye at the female students.

Konohamaru watched his classmates say goodbye to Naruto before getting their things and leave. “…It’s like I’m not even here.” He turned around with a whoosh. “What was that? Did you  _ have to _ ruin my thing? Don’t you have your own shit to do?”

“What do you mean?” Naruto feigned innocence, bouncing the ball. In all honesty, he didn’t care, though he knew he probably should have. He normally would have. He felt like he was troubled by an emotion he couldn’t identify, but whatever it was, it clearly blocked the way of his rational thought.

Konohamaru didn’t seem like he would let it go. “Are you being serious?”

“Hmm.”

“You’re not even looking at me!”

No reply, just a single shot toward the hoop. It was a miss.

Konohamaru walked close to him. “What’s wrong with you? You’re acting like a total dick.”

Naruto gave him a sudden glare. “What’re you saying, kiddo?”

“ _ Kiddo? _ ” With an enraged motion of his nimble fingers, Konohamaru stole the ball from Naruto and attempted to throw it directly at Naruto’s face. It was only by a second Naruto evaded it.

“Konohamaru. Cut the crap, you’re getting on my nerves.”

“Your nerves?” He pointed his middle finger at Naruto. “Fuck your nerves.”

“So you’re pickin’ a fight.”

“No, it’s  _ you _ who’s picking a fight.”

A disheartened, yet certainly infuriated glare he earned himself, and it wasn’t long before the two were throwing punches at each other on the ground. Naturally, a crowd gathered around them, some cheering and applauding the free-of-charge recreational show, while the more sensible ones seemed to question what was going on. Naruto thought he heard his name a few times, but it was hard to decipher in the middle of a fight.

“Cut it out! Cut it out!”

Someone forcefully pulled Naruto back from the back of his collar. Apart from a burn on his shoulder, he was barely injured. The same couldn’t be said for Konohamaru. He had a split lip from what Naruto could see as he was dragged away, and he was on the ground, holding his leg with an agonized face.

Naruto didn’t remember much from there. He was ironically taken to Iruka’s office instead of straight to detention. The man was not in the room, but the door was unlocked this time, and another student was waiting for his verdict inside.

He took a seat on the other side of the couch, as it was the only furniture other than Iruka’s own chair. Not that he had been here many times, but every time he entered this room, he felt it was more like a therapist’s room rather than a counselor’s office. There were even candles, possibly the source of the sweet smell hanging in the air. It made Naruto’s stomach churn. How on earth Iruka thought that would help with students and their problems, he had no idea.

“Do you know when he’ll come?” He asked after a prolonged minute of silence.

The other guy reached for one of the candles and gave it a sniff before putting it back in a different spot. “I was told ten minutes, but that was fifteen minutes ago, so. Who knows.”

As Naruto tried to work out what he looked like, he realized the boy was in fact someone he recognized. “Hey, I’ve seen you before.”

“Hm?” When he turned to Naruto, it was unquestionably the person who Naruto thought he was.

“Aren’t you Sasuke’s friend? I see you around him all the time.”

“Sasuke?” He appeared to be pondering. Who needed to think so hard about this sort of thing? “Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

“I knew it. We never got to speak before.” He felt somehow bugged by the blank look the other kept giving him. “I’m Naruto, by the way.”

“Okay. What’re you here for,  _ Naruto _ ?”

“I started a fight.” He hysterically sneered at the way the words came out of his mouth. “Pretty sure it’s detention for me. What about you? What’s your name again?”

“Suigetsu.” He checked the time on his aqua blue wristwatch. “It’s more of what I didn’t do. I ditched way too many classes. I swear they normally don’t check attendance lists. Or I just got lucky every time.”

“Really? You got away with it before?”

“Always. Hah.”

Iruka interrupted their conversation by walking in, though Naruto wasn’t opposed. He just wanted to get through with it as soon as possible. “Alright, gentlemen, who should I start with?”

“Just say whatever it is that I need to do,” Suigetsu suggested eagerly. “I wanna go home.”

“Trust me, I share the same wish.” Iruka rummaged through a bunch of papers in a drawer as he spoke. “I believe you already know what you need to do in order to continue your educational life.”

“Do I?

Iruka scowled at him. “I don’t know how you made it this far with that attitude.”

“Me neither.” The reply was too blunt and bleak.

“Anything else you want to talk about?”

“No.” He got up. “Can’t believe I waited this long for this.”

“You’re wasting both our time, Suigetsu. Just attend the classes and we’ll both be happier. I assure you.”

Without a word of thank you or bye, Suigetsu left, not even bothering to shut the door behind himself. Naruto got up and did it.

“Now. We have an actual problem here, don’t we.”

“I guess?” He shrugged. “We can do the same thing as you did with that guy. Just tell me what I need to do.”

“Sorry to break it to you, but you won’t get away that easily.” He was reading through the papers he’d pulled out of his drawer. “Kakashi told me you were looking for me. I was too late, huh.”

“This has nothing to do with that.”

“Then what is it about?”

Naruto struggled with what his response would be. He then calmly said, “Nothing. It was wrong.”

Deep down, he knew it was an absurd fight. He had aggravated Konohamaru intentionally, and worst of all, Konohamaru was right. Naruto should have watched from the sidelines and cheered for his friend instead of playing when he was told not to meddle, but he purposefully had and messed it up just because he could. Just because he wanted to. There was no logic behind that, just an instinct to cause a scene. Konohamaru certainly had nothing to do with the ugly feeling pooling in his belly for a while. He’d just happened to be the victim because he was there.

“Hmm. This is your first time in a fight, am I right?”

“Yes.” The color of the wall was so dull that he wanted to punch a hole through it.

“…Let’s take a different approach with this. Is there anything you want to talk about?” Iruka asked. “It might help to get it off your chest.”

“I did wanna talk about it. But now I’m in trouble so it’s not worth wasting your time with.”

Iruka sighed. “Naruto. It’s my job to help the students in need. And you’re here because you need help. It’s not a waste of time. There’s obviously something bothering you, it’s written all over your face.”

He took his time. It might as well be his shot to talk to Iruka since he would be much more of a help than the others around him when it came to giving advice on the matters of worries. “Well,” he started. “I’m just feelin’ a little lost, I guess.”

“We all do sometimes. It may not look like it. But you’re not alone.”

“Sure. I know. But even my academic life is unclear to me. One thing that should make sense. I look at my friends and they all have an idea about what they wanna do in the future. They study and keep their grades up for that sake. Well, maybe not all of them, but most.”

“Most probably not all of them.”

He frustratedly ran a hand through his hair, grabbing a fistful of it. “I have no clue. I joined the basketball team because I figured I wanted to do somethin’ active. But I can’t do that as a profession. I started playing only this year. Then there’s the fact that my grades are not the best. It’s too late for me to earn a sports scholarship for college. And I don’t even know what I wanna study.”

Iruka was intently listening, giving nods of approval every once in a while. “You can always decide on what your studies will be centered on later. For the time being, why not focus on your grades? I knew plenty of students who were clueless about their future and they all landed on spots they liked.”

“Yeah but that’s the thing. I’m stupid, you see.” He then corrected himself. “No. Not stupid. But it’s not as easy for me to understand classes. I don’t understand why y’all make us feel like getting a diploma isn’t optional. Maybe I’d be better off repairing motorbikes or something.”

“If you have something in mind for yourself,” Iruka told him, “A dream you want to chase. A path you want to follow. If it doesn’t require going to college, you don’t have to. But college also adds greatly to personality growth.”

“Can’t I grow somewhere else? I wanna be useful for others. I wanna help people.”

Iruka smiled. “Possibly. You know, your options aren’t limited to popular degrees. Do some research and you’ll see there are things you can study that will help you reach masses. I think the main issue here is that you don’t have enough drive to study. If I didn’t know you, I would’ve believed you when you said you’re stupid. But you have no difference from any of the students on the honor roll when something ignites your passion. I’ve seen it happen, and I’m sure I’ll see it again.”

Naruto sucked his bottom lip in. It was possibly true.

“Just remember that no one follows the same path as another. Never compare yourself to your friends. You all have your own unique strengths. Also, a piece of personal advice. Don’t focus only on your future. Don’t forget to live  _ now.  _ You’ll eventually find something you so badly want to do in this life. And when you do that, you don’t want to see a worthless past.”

“Of course,” Naruto affirmed. “I’ve just been feelin’ stressed out lately because of this. Thanks, Iruka.”

“You’re welcome. Feel free to come to me when you can’t deal with the stress on your own. I’m here for you.”

“Y’know, I don’t even know why I came earlier. Guess I just wanted to try it out. Everyone comes here only when they’re called so I thought it was pointless to just walk in with your own will. But it actually helped.”

“Sharing always helps. I don’t understand why people think they should keep their worries to themselves and share only the good things. Humans are made to support each other.”

“I know, right?!” Naruto guffawed. “That’s what I tell everyone. But turns out I was emotionally constipated myself.”

“We gotta solve that before it’s too late,” he smiled. “Anything else you want to talk about?”

There actually was something else. Something he had been keeping to himself. But was Iruka the one he wanted guidance from? “…Not for now.”

“If that’s out of the way, then,” Iruka said. “We can come back to the reason why you’re here.”

“Ah.” He took a deep, long breath. “I should apologize to Konohamaru. I assaulted the kid for no reason.”

“Hmm. And, detention for a week. I also realize you skipped a class, but I’ll overlook it this time. Don’t let it become a habit or our relationship would become as boring as the one with Suigetsu.”

“No, no, of course not,” he assured with a thumbs-up. “I won’t do it again. Can I go now? I need to pick up my things from the court.”

“Yes. And Naruto, come back anytime if you need help with finding a way to vent without hurting yourself or others, okay?”

He felt his shoulder sting, where Konohamaru had whacked it. “Yeah.”

* * *

The new Japanese teacher, Tsunade, had different methods of teaching than Itachi. She expressed astonishment for the fact that the students were able to read and write that much despite having started learning the language only a few months ago. Clearly, Itachi hadn’t done that bad of a job after all. Tsunade had brought back tests, but she hadn’t touched their reading sessions. She said she would not grade them according to their class participation, but she looked seriously scary whenever she randomly selected someone and they weren’t able to answer a question. So it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say every student was attentively listening and taking part.

The group had gathered for Thursday’s class, and Naruto had Kiba with him this time. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he was happy with Kiba being there. Had it been the first class of the semester, things would have been different. But Naruto had established a whole new routine for that class, with Sai and Sasuke as his mates. Upon seeing Kiba, Sai had taken a seat next to Sasuke. From his seat in the back, which was Kiba’s decision, he could see the two chatting.

Kiba was stretching his arms. “She’s late.”

“Mhm.”

“I thought it would be more fun here. Since you seem to enjoy it so much. There’s nothing enjoyable about this class except for the teacher.” He looked around, distaste evident in his features. “I think I’m gettin’ a bit claustrophobic.”

Naruto squeezed his knees together, only to release them and do it again. “Yeah. You get used to it.”

Lowering his voice, Kiba leaned in closer to Naruto. “And there’s no one interesting here. You say Sasuke’s cool and all but all I see is a perpetually brooding maniac. And the other guy is a huge perv, isn’t he.”

“Kiba,” Naruto let out a breathy sigh. “They’re—”

He was prepared to defend his friends, but Tsunade’s sudden appearance distracted Kiba. He clung to Naruto’s arm and animatedly shook it. “She’s here!”

“Good afternoon, brats.” Tsunade seemed to be in a cynical mood. Then again, she always was. Maybe it really was her thing. She dropped her bag and pulled out the book they were going to be reading from. After she passed it to the first row, she took a seat, assessing the class. It wasn’t long before she spotted Kiba. “Who are you and what are you doing in my class?”

Stupid Kiba. Naruto couldn’t believe he actually believed he wouldn’t be spotted in a class of fifteen students. He did feel slightly sorry that he wanted to laugh at Kiba’s stupor, but it was soon gone.

“I’m… Kiba,” he cautiously said. “I… wanted to check Japanese out? I’ve heard it’s… fun.”

Sai turned around to give Kiba a look, and then he caught Naruto’s eye. It was hard to keep a straight face on as he watched Sai smirk. He was enjoying this too much. A titter escaped Naruto’s mouth.

“Fun? Who said it’s fun?”

Oops. There was no way to tell what Tsunade was planning on doing with the information. He didn’t feel in the mood to be told off.

“Well…”

“Never mind,” Tsunade interrupted. “As long as you keep your mouth shut, I don’t care. You don’t happen to know how to read, do you?”

Kiba swallowed. “…No.”

“ _ Great _ .” She brushed aside a bleached bang. “One word and I’ll kill you.”

Instead of verbally responding, Kiba rapidly nodded with fearful eyes. Tsunade motioned for Shikamaru to start reading.

After they all took their turn reading out loud for a few paragraphs, they did some grammar study. The second the bell rang, Naruto could swear he heard Kiba release a breath so rowdily that one might think he’d been holding it all this time. Tsunade was the first to leave the class, so thankfully she didn’t hear it.

Kiba looked like he was run over by a train. “Oh. My. God.”

“What?” Naruto asked innocently. It wasn’t like Tsunade psychotically attacked everyone. In fact, Kiba was the only one who’d been scolded. Her tongue was sharp, but she was a good teacher. Just strict.

“I thought she’d cut off my dick any second. She really is a lunatic. Well. I got to watch her boobs, but still.”

“Maybe that’s why she was giving you the death stare?”

“Possibly? Don’t tell Hinata about any of this.”

Sai headed toward them with a creepy smile. “Please come back anytime. It’s great here with you around.”

Kiba showed his fist as a threat. Sai didn’t seem to care one bit.

“Stop aggravating him, Sai,” Naruto said as he zipped his pencil case. “Though, heh. He has a point.”

“You asshole.” Kiba hissed light-heartedly. “You know I can’t punch him, but I'd be happy to take you out any day.”

“Take me out? Really? Remember, I’m more experienced in the area nowadays.”

“True.” Kiba waved his hand. “Well. Good luck with detention. I’m gonna see what the others are up to.”

Sai was still sniggering. “He’s such a pain in the ass.”

“Watch out. He’s still my best friend.”

He could see Sasuke was still in his seat, unmoving. Naruto wondered if he could pretend not to have seen him there. It was so obviously a lie, though. Was it graceless to pass without talking to him?

“I wish you could hang out with us, dickless. Konan’s been asking about you.”

“I’m off the hook tomorrow. My Saturdays are all occupied, and Sundays I usually spend with Mom. So… next week, maybe?”

Sai shrugged. “Why not.”

“Anyway. I gotta run. Don’t wanna be late. Detention’s actually growin’ on me now that I get all of my work done before I go home.”

From the corner of his eye, he wanted to check if Sasuke was still there, but he only ended up finding a pair of eyes that were staring right back at him.

It was an awkward moment because he couldn’t think of a thing to say, and Sasuke didn’t seem like he’d be opening his mouth anytime soon. So, he forced a smile on his face. “See you later guys.”

He felt embarrassment run down his back as he walked the corridor to the detention class. It wasn’t like him to do that. It felt weird not to be able to come up with anything in a situation like that. He could have just asked how Sasuke was or made a funny remark. For someone who’d chased Sasuke for a fair amount, he surely was acting shy.

It was a no-brainer that the moment at the gym had affected both his way of thinking and feeling. He didn’t feel particularly upset that Sasuke had tried to kiss him. He didn’t feel delighted either, there was only a never-ending cycle of uncertainty and self-consciousness.

The more he tried to figure out why just having his face close to Sasuke’s had created such a heavy sensation, the weirder he felt about it. He didn’t feel that with any of his other friends. He’d tried it on Kiba. Lee. Neji too. None of them made his heart beat faster. At that moment, he’d thought it was because his personal space was invaded. But that wasn’t it, as Kiba had approved. It caused infinite vexation on his side. He had told Sasuke that he wouldn’t be able to understand the feeling of others if he couldn’t understand his own that very day, and now it seemed like the tables had turned.

Moreover, he wondered if Sasuke felt what he felt. Sasuke was still unquestionably his friend, at least to Naruto. Was it a slip up on Sasuke’s side to try kissing him? Was Sasuke puzzled as well because Naruto had pushed him away? Enraged? Offended? There was no way he could tell.

From all the pondering he did at night, and in the morning, as well as during some classes, he came up with a realization. It was genuinely unintentional that his mind had wandered over that fact, but Naruto had overlooked this fact until now: he acted differently with Sasuke than his other friends. There was no doubt about it. Every time Sasuke had shown a side of him that was uncharacteristic and bold, Naruto had given it to the fact that he was friendly and easy to warm up to. It made sense that Sasuke took a liking to him. He had assumed Sasuke was letting Naruto see his vulnerable sides and suppressed emotions just because there was a mutual trust between them. But maybe it was more than that.

And it wasn’t just Sasuke. Naruto had, now that he saw it, literally chased him. He normally liked to befriend people, yes, but he didn’t recall ever trying so hard. If he didn’t click with someone, he let it go. With Sasuke, he’d shown so much effort. Funny thing was, he felt like he’d do it all over again. When he tried putting it into words, he failed miserably, but he wanted to be there for Sasuke. He had told Sasuke about his wounds and his secrets, and he wanted Sasuke to share all of his with him, and come to him when he needed a hug – even Sasuke needed a hug, whether he realized it or not.

Becoming conscious of this was enough to send him over the edge. He didn’t know who to turn into, and what to expect from his relationship with Sasuke from that moment on.

He was in trouble.


	11. Rewind, rethink, and repeat

The usual gang was together for the lunch break. Karin’s persistence on eating healthy was finally working off, they all had their homemade meals brought in a lunch box. Also for a change, they were eating in one of the larger corridors where it was quieter compared to the cafeteria. Windowsills were wide and low enough to comfortably sit on, and Hinata was squeezed together with Sakura while Karin was occupying the remainder of the space.

From out the window, Naruto could see Konohamaru, Lee, and Udon play basketball.

“Now that Naruto’s got his ass out of detention, we can do a movie night this week,” Karin recommended. The color of the sandwich bread she ate was a peculiar brown.

“No way. Do it without me if you must, but I think we should all be studying,” Sakura said.

Kiba was watching Naruto, and he picked up what Naruto might be looking at unexpectedly fast. “Dude. His leg’s healed by now.”

“Yeah. I’m not worried about that.” Naruto shook his head. For some reason, thinking about basketball made him sick right now. He’d apologized to Konohamaru about a hundred times, and Konohamaru seemed to have forgiven him. But he couldn’t forgive himself for what he had done. Going violent on someone because he felt like shit… that was so messed up. Was he a terrible person for that, or was he a normal teenager for discharging his anger on someone?

Sakura sighed, putting her lunchbox aside and getting up to her feet. “Are we going to talk about it or ignore it like we did last week?”

Hinata went along with Sakura. “I honestly thought they were mistaking Naruto for someone else when I heard it. I mean… I can’t imagine him beating someone up.”

“It was a mistake, okay?” said Naruto sharply. “Talking about it won’t change anything.”

“True,” Neji shrugged. “But you still look like you want to beat someone up.”

“Bullshit.”

Karin wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Is this about Sakura and Kimimaro?”

“What?” Naruto asked, taken by surprise. “You guys are datin’ now?”

Sakura hummed in thought. “No. We went on a date last week. I’m not really sure yet if I like him romantically. But he’s a charming guy. I’ve never flirted with a boy who wears makeup before.”

“You should go on another date after all this test crap is over,” was Karin’s opinion.

“And you should start concerning yourself more with your own love life instead of others,” Sakura half-seriously said. “Will you admit you’re dating Kabuto already? The entire school knows.”

Hinata sweetly offered Karin a compliment. “You two fit each other so well.”

Kiba nodded in approval. Karin rolled her eyes with an unsuccessfully suppressed smile.

Sakura’s attention was back on Naruto. “So, it’s not about me?”

“What?” Naruto dumbly stared at her. “No? Why would you think that?” He then realized he had never officially revealed to them that he was over Sakura. But how exactly would that even happen? It wasn’t like he could go up to her and say _hey, I’m over you, just so you know._ Sakura was his close friend and confidant, so it was only natural he had interest in the occurrences, but he had no hard feelings. No jealousy.

Luckily, nobody made a remark about it, not even Kiba. They were probably all relieved.

“Uh. Anyway.” Kiba yawned, putting an arm around Hinata’s shoulder. “We can do movie night after Christmas if that’s okay with everyone.”

“I’m down,” Karin said. She was up a moment later, dusting off her skirt, but she suddenly jumped with a startle. “Fuck! Jesus!”

“Calm down,” someone said from the back. It was Suigetsu, and his hand was on Karin’s back. He pulled it away to stop Karin’s oncoming slap. “Sheesh.”

“Suigetsu,” Naruto greeted him. “What’s up?”

Suigetsu grinned. “Sorry to interrupt. I need to borrow you for a while if that’s okay. There’s someone who wants to talk to you.”

Kiba gave a sleazy snicker. “Someone’s gonna confess?”

“No. It’s just Iruka.”

Kiba’s enthusiasm died down in under a second. “Why didn’t you say so, bro.”

Karin was still looking at Suigetsu like she wanted to stab him in the eye. “If you’re looking for him, then why the hell would you touch me?”

“Because you’re in the way?” Suigetsu raised a brow. “Geez. Stop with that look, will ya. I’m just the messenger. Anyway, I’m outta here.”

“Bye,” Naruto mumbled behind him.

“Pff. I’m heading to the classroom,” Kiba said. “You guys comin’?”

Neji pushed himself away from the wall he’d been leaning against. “I’m going out for a smoke.”

“ _Quit smoking_ , my ass. You’re still smoking like a chimney, Neji.” He turned to Naruto. “Nards, find us later, ‘kay?”

By the time Naruto separated from them and made it to Iruka’s room, his hands were a little clammy, mostly because he had no idea why Iruka had suddenly called for him. Was it about last week’s talk, or maybe he was going to be given more detention hours?

It was unusually quiet since there were no classrooms on that floor. The door to Iruka’s office was ajar, and Naruto knocked out of courtesy before pushing it open. Iruka was at his seat, typing on the desktop computer.

“Naruto?”

He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “Suigetsu said you wanted to talk to me?”

Iruka appeared confused. “You? I told him to tell Karin Uzumaki to visit me if he saw her. Guess he only heard the second half.”

“Oh. I thought I was in trouble for a second,” he confessed with a relieved chuckle. “Is _she_ in trouble?”

“No, nothing like that. I just want to talk to her about her Math grades. Kakashi’s been worried about her.”

“Mhmm. Is that so.” It was the first time Naruto heard Kakashi was worried about anything, much less his students.

Iruka’s fingers were resting on the keyboard, but not pressing any keys. “How are you holding up? Things clearer in your head after last week?”

“Yeah. I think so. I might pay a visit later if I get in over my head again.”

“I’d be glad,” he replied.

“Well then. I’ll leave you be.”

“See you later, Naruto. Would you pass my message to Karin?”

“Sure.”

It was definitely a relief that he was not in trouble or anything. He shut Iruka’s door and started walking in the direction of the stairs.

As he passed by the door to the teacher’s lounge, he spotted Itachi’s unmistakably dark hair, and then Sasuke’s. They appeared to be arguing – not an entirely unfamiliar sight, though they did it rather quietly. Even their fights had an elegance to them. Naruto watched them for a few seconds, but he couldn’t risk being spotted. He wasn’t exactly keen on talking to Sasuke at the moment.

But his thoughts were broken up with a vulgar voice. “Hey, you’re here.”

It was Suigetsu again, and he startled Naruto as much as he’d startled Karin, making an embarrassing yelp escape his mouth. This guy had no sound in his footsteps.

“Yeah. It wasn’t me who he was looking for, you misheard it. It was Karin,” Naruto said after he came back to his senses.

Their exchange seemed to have interrupted the Uchiha brothers’, which was to be expected as their voices reverberated in the half-empty corridor.

“Is that so. Huh. I thought maybe he wanted to talk to you ‘bout detention.”

Itachi inaudibly said one last thing to Sasuke before he went in through the door to his right. It was only Sasuke, Suigetsu, and Naruto on the entire corridor.

“What are you doing here?” Sasuke called out. Naruto wasn’t able to tell if it was directed toward him or Suigetsu, and just by that he felt his hands start to sweat again.

Suigetsu saved him from fretting further by replying. “Juugo said you’d be here. Geez, I had to climb these goddamn stairs twice. You done with your talk?”

“Yes.” Sasuke came from across the corridor to their side.

It was an awkward moment again for Naruto because he had no business there. Sasuke seemed to think the same. “Naruto?”

“I’m only here because Suigetsu said Iruka called for me. Which was a misunderstanding, by the way.” He wasn’t sure why he’d gotten all defensive all of a sudden.

Sasuke did not react to it. “You two know each other?”

“We’re detention buddies,” Suigetsu said.

“Hmm.” Sasuke pushed his hands into his pockets, eyes calculating. “Suigetsu, can you give us a moment?”

He looked confused but didn’t question it. “Should I wait?”

“Don’t bother.”

“Suit yourself. We’re in the usual spot.”

Suigetsu soundlessly descended the stairs and disappeared out of sight. Sasuke’s gaze intensified on Naruto. “Detention buddies? So you actually were in a fistfight.”

“That… happened. Yeah.”

“I thought it was a false rumor.”

“You could’ve asked.”

Sasuke looked down. “We didn’t get to talk. Who attacked you?”

“It was me who attacked, actually,” Naruto clarified. “But I’ve learned my lesson.”

Unlike Naruto, Sasuke definitely had a thing he wanted to say after that. He was looking up at Naruto and down at his shoes again. Patiently, Naruto waited, but it didn’t seem like anything was coming out of it, so he cleared his throat as a distraction. “Well. I’m gonna—”

“Won’t you come over for dinner this Friday?”

For someone who seemed to be mulling his words over a second ago, Sasuke said it very hastily. Naruto had to take a moment to scrutinize the meaning in his head.

“Friday? Ahh.”

“You have other plans?”

Apart from their usual plan of eating out and chatting together, he wasn’t particularly busy. Not at all. “No, um. We usually eat together Friday after school.”

“I see.”

The disappointment apparent on Sasuke’s face pulled a string at Naruto’s heart. He wasn’t even sure if they would do it this week - Sakura would most likely call it off. Even if not, he could always tell them he was invited somewhere. Neji always missed their meetings because he was at family dinners.

He had to make a quick decision, and they were bound to talk about what had happened eventually. “I can make it, though. They won’t die if I bail once,” he neutrally said.

Sasuke’s eyes lit up. “Are you sure that’s okay?”

“Yeah. Totally.” He bobbed his head in consensus. “Does Itachi know?”

“He’s cool with it. He’s free Friday after school.”

“That’s good, then. I owed him dinner, after all.”

Sasuke’s lips were tugged down ever so slightly. “Hn.”

It wasn’t like this was the first time they had a falling-out, but it definitely was the first one where he had absolutely no clue how to resolve. They basically hadn’t exchanged a single word after eating out together last week, and that was weird because they always spoke, or at least texted. Also, Naruto sent Sasuke memes, which had also stopped. The more they talked, the better he felt about the awkwardness between them, but it was still there. The elephant in the room.

“Don’t keep your friends waiting, Sasuke,” he said. He needed time to think and prepare what he wanted to say so there was no usefulness in dragging out the conversation longer than needed. “I’ll meet you at your place on Friday.”

“I’m looking forward to that.” 

The full meaning behind that was unclear to Naruto, but he managed to nod nonetheless.

* * *

Sakura was nice enough to help Naruto study for his tests regardless of the fact that she was busy with her own schoolwork. Naruto had taken Iruka’s advice and was determined to get high scores for the time being, and that took most of his time, so much that he had forgotten about dinner at Sasuke’s until Sasuke had asked if it was still on to confirm on Thursday.

Friday, after the last period, Sakura and Naruto were at the library again. Sakura had mastered the art of talking in a whisper-like voice so that she wouldn’t disturb anybody while she reviewed a topic from World History out loud.

“Naruto?”

“Mhm?”

He was watching Sakura take small notes and trace the texts she was reading, but his mind was somewhere else.

“I asked you a question. Were you listening?” Her eyes were probing.

“Yes. Sorry. I zoned out for a second. What was the question again?”

“The changes in Germany after World War I.”

“Oh.” His eyes wandered over the open page. “Um…”

“I’ve been talking about this for the last twenty minutes,” she said in discontent. “You seem a little tired. Maybe we should call it a day.”

“I’m sorry, Sakura,” Naruto reclined back. “I really appreciate what you’re doin’ for me. I’ll study this to the smallest details, I promise.”

Sakura gave a half-smile. “You’re awfully diligent lately. I’m proud of you.”

“Hah! I am, aren’t I?”

“Shhh. Lower your voice.” She wrapped a lock of hair around her finger, eyes following it. “How am I going to find the time to visit the salon? My dye’s overdue.”

Even then Sakura could think of such a thing. Naruto didn’t really understand why girls cared that much about their appearance. To him, Sakura looked pretty enough as she was right now.

“You want coffee? Vending machine coffee sucks, but we’ll make do.”

Sakura shrugged. “Why not.”

Naruto grabbed some loose change (there was no way he’d let Sakura pay after tutoring him all week) and they left the study area after putting their coats on. The floor planning of the library sucked, and they had to walk all the way to the entrance door for the vending machines since the built-in cafeteria was ridiculously overpriced.

After getting their drinks, they went out in the fresh air. They sat in one of the benches placed adjacent to the building. The view wasn’t that nice, but that was all they could get for a ten-minute study break.

“I forgot to congratulate you. For going out with Kimimaro, I mean.”

Sakura laughed, cheekbones catching the light and glowing thanks to her makeup. “There’s nothing to congratulate. We’ve only been on one date.”

“It’s an accomplishment to me. You’re moving on. Isn’t that what life is all about?” Naruto uttered.

“I suppose so. Then I should congratulate you as well.”

“Why?”

She cautiously took a sip from her coffee. “For the same reason.”

“Mm. So you noticed.”

“It was Neji who said it first, actually. A while back. But it makes sense. I’m really happy. I mean, don’t get me wrong. It’s really flattering that you liked me and all,” she casually said. “But you’re also my dear friend and I don’t like seeing you suffer.”

Naruto silently nodded, not able to find the strength within to crack a joke about it. He watched the white smoke rise from his coffee, then a group of students walking inside.

“Thanks for buying, by the way.”

“No worries,” he said before facing Sakura and smiling. It faltered soon. “I wanna ask you somethin’. I don’t wanna sound weird. But it’s kind of important.”

Sakura looked suspicious but shrugged it away. “I’m used to your quirky talks anyway. What is it?”

“Don’t get me wrong. This is entirely hypothetical, but” he cleared his throat, rubbing his empty hand on his jeans. “Have you ever kissed a girl?”

“Ha?” Her tone got Naruto alert and scared that he’d get punched, but Sakura looked baffled rather than furious. “Yeah. I have. Why?”

“Wait—” He had not anticipated that. “Seriously?”

“Yup.”

“Okay. Awesome. Wait, I mean. Uhh. How did it… feel?”

She took long sips from her paper cup before she spoke. “It’s not going to feel the same for you if that’s why you’re asking.”

“That’s not it. Think of it as a survey.”

“If you really want to know. It was back when I was about eight. I kissed my best friend because we were both curious about what kissing was like. I remember it felt warm. And nice.”

“…That’s it? Did you feel anxious at all?”

“As far as I remember, no,” she said. “Why are you asking again?”

Head hung low, Naruto exhaled sharply. “Can you keep a secret?”

He felt Sakura’s hand on his back, rubbing soothingly. “You know I can.”

“Sakura, I think I’m gay.” He quickly added, with a desperate edge to his voice. “Please don’t tell anyone. _Please_.”

She was entirely taken aback, eyes wide and mouth agape. “What do you mean you’re gay?”

“I mean exactly what it implies. Gay. Homosexual.”

“Naruto. You’re not gay. Why do you--" she cut off herself and took a long, hard look into Naruto’s face before she stood up, her arms crossed tightly. “God. You’re serious.”

Naruto watched her pace back and forth for a while. He wasn’t surprised it made no sense to Sakura when it didn’t make sense to himself.

Finally, Sakura stopped, stomping the ground with her boot. “Alright. Start from the beginning. What makes you think that?”

“Well, there’s not much to tell apart than I had a moment with someone. Like, our faces were super close, and it made my heart beat so fast I thought it was gonna burst out of my chest.”

“Who’s this someone?”

He was skeptical about whether he should say it or not. Eventually, he had been planning on telling her that he knew Sasuke was gay, but the context right now was far from anything he had pictured.

Sakura was impatient. Her brows were furrowed. “Naruto?”

Naruto hung his head low and shut his eyes until he gathered up some courage. “Sasuke. It was Sasuke.”

Sakura simply gawked at him, just like the way she had done when the topic of Sasuke’s sexuality was brought up. Penetrating. “You knew after all. That Sasuke is gay. And you kept it from me.”

“It’s not like that. I found out shortly before Neji said it. I was gonna tell you, but I had no idea how.”

“It was so obvious that you knew something that day. Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now.”

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t wanna hurt your feelings. It was kind of a relief when Neji put it out.” He could only hope Sakura would understand. “Neji needs to stop monitoring people like that.”

“Probably.” She looked up at the sky. “When did it happen?”

“Sometime last week.”

“Figures. You’ve been acting strange ever since. I knew something was up, but.”

“It’s not like someone admits something like this every day, huh.”

“Okay, let’s see,” she heaved out a resolute sigh. “Can you maybe… describe it a little? How did it happen?”

“Well.” Naruto scratched his cheek, trying to recall the specifics that he’d desperately tried to erase from his memory. “We were just talking. Then… uh. His face was very close.”

“So, he initiated it.”

“Obviously.”

“What did you do?”

“I froze. I wanted to push him away. I did, actually, but it took me long enough. Longer than it should’ve. I don’t know how to describe it. There was something wrong with me. It was like I’d been hypnotized. I barely managed to get away.”

Sakura was back to her pacing. “It sounds out of the ordinary. But it doesn’t make you gay.”

“I tried the same with Kiba. I pushed my face close to his. A few more inches and we’d be making out. And nothing happened with either of us. It was pretty gross.”

“God, I don’t want to imagine that,” Sakura said in repulse. “I respect your exploratory spirit. Just don’t try it with someone else, you’ll get punched.”

“At this point I’m willing to get punched if it means finding some answers.” He had a hand in his hair, pulling at it again and again as it would turn on a secret switch.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out. I hope.” She slurred toward the last part. “Let’s just try to evaluate the situation. You were... _stimulated_. Because he was physically close.”

“Sakura – don’t put it like that!” He cried. “I’m already thrown off by it as it is.”

She flopped down back on the bench; hands joined. “I don’t know. Sorry, Naruto. It doesn’t add up in my head. I honestly don’t think you’re gay. But maybe you should ask someone else.”

“Someone else? Who?!” He felt so uncomfortable. “Iruka? My mom? Grandpa?”

“I mean, well. It sounded better in my head.” She was restlessly fumbling with her skirt. “Was it the first time you felt that?”

“No?” Naruto swallowed. “Maybe. It was never… intense like that. You know how they romanticize shit like this in movies. Butterflies in your stomach. Forgetting about the rest of the world. That’s the type of thing I felt, and it makes zero sense.”

“Could it be that you’re somehow misjudging what you felt?”

“I doubt it.” He rubbed his hands on his face. “I’m gonna have dinner with ‘em tonight. I don’t want it to be awkward. But there’s no fuckin’ way that’s gonna happen with me feeling like this.”

“Dinner. Huh.” She had a distressed expression on her face all of a sudden.

The predicament was already bad enough, he knew, but Sakura going quiet was a severe red flag. He trusted her judgement. “You think I shouldn’t go?”

“No, you shouldn’t cancel.”

“It’s too late for that, yeah. The thing is, I wanna go. But we barely talked after that day. He must be as disturbed as me about dinner.” As strange as it was, it was the first time he’d thought of that. He was confused because he didn’t know what to make of either the status quo or his emotional state, but then there were Sasuke’s sentiments.

Why had he tried to kiss Naruto in the first place, dammit? And what did he feel after the rejection? That night when they had grabbed a bite together, he’d maintained a poker face. He had a first-class poker face, a fact Naruto often forgot because when they were together, he seldom saw it, if at all.

He hissed. “Why the heck did he even invite me to dinner?”

“That’s what I was wondering. It’s possible he wants to patch things up. More importantly, why did _you_ say yes?”

“I just did, I don’t know. I felt compelled?”

“You sure?” As expected, Sakura saw right through it.

“I also wanna make up. I’ve never had a problem burying the hatchet in the past but seems like this one will be a bit tricky.” He felt a blush creeping up his cheeks as he talked. “Sasuke’s precious to me. I don’t wanna lose him over this. But the entire thing is a hot mess right now.”

It was too late, Sakura was giggling.

“Sakura!”

“Sorry, gosh, you’re so cute!”

“Ha ha. Laugh all you want. I’m not ashamed of my feelings.” He gazed at the gentle, apologetic squeeze Sakura gave to her hand. “I should probably talk to someone else like you’ve said. I have reservations about Sai, but I think Deidara could give me useful advice about how to handle this. What do you think?”

“That’s a good idea,” Sakura agreed. “For tonight, I’d say act naturally. You’re having dinner with his family, right? It’s not a date or anything.”

“It’s gonna be him and Itachi. I think.” He wasn’t sure if Sasuke’s father would be home, but he didn’t think so.

“Right. Itachi. It can’t go bad, then. Just go through tonight. If he wants to talk about it, don’t evade it. Though the Sasuke I know wouldn’t, but you never know.”

Naruto leaned his head, his forehead against Sakura’s shoulder. He felt his throat well up. “Thank you, Sakura. Truly.”

She patted his head. “No need to thank me. Just don’t vent your anger by beating up innocent kids, that’s enough.”

With a rustle, Naruto lifted his head up. “Sounds like you’re gonna hold that against me forever.”

“Not forever. Maybe until we graduate.” She scrunched up her nose when Naruto poked his tongue out in response.

“I should go back to studying,” said Sakura, taking Naruto’s empty cup and putting it into hers to discard later. “Not all of us have a date with not one, but two Uchihas today.”

“I’m not mentally resilient enough to imagine that.” They hurried inside. “I’m gonna see what Mom’s up to before I take off. I forgot to tell her about dinner.”

“Okay. Does she mind?”

“Nah, she goes out on Fridays anyway. I’ll be back in ten to pick my things up.”

As Sakura headed straight for the study zone again, Naruto started making his way to the second floor to find Kushina.

* * *

After having a talk with Kushina, he went home. He wasn’t given a specific hour for dinner, so he figured he’d go around six. To pass the time he took a shower, put music on and lazed around. Choosing a proper outfit vexed him, but he ended up putting on a casual knit sweater and jeans. It wasn’t like there was anyone he wanted to impress as both brothers saw him in sweatshirts and bed hair all the time. For a change, though, he decided to wear his father’s watch as well.

It wasn’t like he lost the track of time, but it was way past six by the time he made it there. He rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer, biting on the skin of his cheek on the inside.

It was Sasuke who welcomed him. “Hey.”

Naruto didn’t know if it was a good thing (it probably was), but Sasuke was acting as he would on a day-to-day basis. There were none of the nervous ticks Naruto would have shown if he were in the other’s shoes. He let Naruto in and closed the door behind them.

“How’re you doin’?” He took off his coat and unwrapped the scarf around his neck.

Sasuke took them to hang up. “That’s mine, isn’t it?”

“Yeah - I totally forgot about it. Should’ve returned it long ago. Heh.” It was a bold-faced lie that he hoped Sasuke wouldn’t catch. He didn’t even know why he told it. “Am I late, by the way?”

“It’s fine. Itachi’s just started setting the table.”

“Cool.” The last time he had stood upon that spot before the front door, he’d been bothered about entirely different reasons.

It was not like he was all of a sudden at peace about the whole thing because Sasuke acted normal, but it sort of helped. Had Sasuke been edgy from minute one, there was no doubt Naruto wouldn’t make it out of there with a healthy psyche tonight.

The main room was just how he remembered it. These people probably didn’t do many changes around. Naruto was frequently asked by his mother to move some furniture because she was bored with how they were, so he was used to modifications in environments he went into.

“Itachi!” He saluted upon seeing him, back facing his way.

Itachi was in a pair of comfortable-looking khaki pants and an untailored shirt instead of a button-up, and it made him seem like an entirely different person. He turned around to speak to his guest. “I’m glad you could make it. You’re just on time - I forgot to ask. My bad. Do you have any food allergies?”

“Nope. And I’m not picky either. Don’t worry ‘bout anything.”

The man was visibly comforted to hear that. “That’s good to hear. Sit down if you want. We don’t have to eat right away, although noodles will get soggy if we wait too long.”

“We can eat. I haven’t had anything since lunch.”

“Perfect.”

“So, what are we eatin’?”

Sasuke had the audacity to scoff at that. Naruto gave him a look, but it was lost on Sasuke as he was busy making sure everything was placed correctly on the table. “Ever had Japanese?”

“Sushi. It was only once.”

Itachi was running between the kitchen and the room to complete the missing items. “Did you like it?”

Naruto shrugged. “I didn’t care for it much. Are we having sushi?”

“No. Rāmen. And Tempura. Sasuke was insistent on making soup, but these two are already filling enough.”

“I don’t know what they are, but I’m excited to try out. Mind if I wash my hands first?”

Sasuke glimpsed up to give directions. “Second door on the left.”

Once he was back from the bathroom, they were ready to start eating. The dinner table was long, but the plates were only on one side of it, two seats across each other, and one at the end. Itachi was already seated in it, though, so Naruto had to sit facing Sasuke directly. No matter how hard he tried to assure himself there was no need to freak, whenever he felt Sasuke’s eyes on himself he got a little flustered, so he distracted himself with the food.

“Does it taste like cup noodles? ‘cause I love those,” he declared as he studied the bowl in front of him. It smelled appetizing enough, and it was nicely garnished with green onions and meat.

“Much better.”

He wasn’t great with chopsticks, but there was a thoughtfully placed fork for him, so he didn’t need to worry about that. He knew a little about the eating manners of the Japanese, thanks to Itachi’s classes, so he knew what to say before they started.

“ _Itadakimasu!_ ”

The first cautious bite he took from rāmen was followed by huge mouthfuls of noodles and soup. “My God,” he said between chews. “This is the best thing that’s ever entered my mouth.”

Both brothers shared a look that Naruto didn’t catch entirely as he was too busy eating. Content with the compliment, Itachi offered Naruto the plate full of deep-fried vegetables. “Try these as well.”

Naruto took one, but he placed it on the side of his plate instead of trying. “I will once I’m done with this. Saying that actually pains me. I want it to last forever.”

Sasuke dipped his chopsticks in his bowl. “We were worried you wouldn’t like some of the dishes. But rāmen’s popular in here, and it suits a Westerner’s palate.”

“It’s popular? I’ve never heard of it before,” Naruto said in awe. He was attempting not to act impolite as he ate. “You’ve made a perfect choice. I could eat this every day. Who cooked it?”

“Itachi.”

“Mhm. I didn’t know you could cook so well, teach.”

At the way he addressed him, Itachi gave him a look, but he didn’t say anything. “I learned it from my mother.”

Sasuke was scowling at his plate, but he made conversation. “For someone who grew up in an exceptionally patriarchal society, she was very open-minded. Made sure we learned how to do house chores, cooking. Even sewing.”

“You can sew, Sasuke?”

Sasuke took a gulp from his water before he spoke. “To a certain level.”

“Wow. I can cook, but I can’t even sew a popped-off button.”

“It’s pretty simple. I’m sure you’d get the hang of it in a matter of minutes if you tried,” Itachi said. “I wonder if you’re still enjoying the Japanese class?”

“Oh yeah. I don’t know if you talked to Tsunade at all, but she’s really good. A different character than you entirely, but we manage. Right, Sasuke?”

Sasuke didn’t have a big opinion on the matter. “Hn.”

Itachi chuckled. “I hope Sasuke’s not making as much trouble anymore.”

“… _Nii-san.”_

It made Naruto giggle when Sasuke suddenly switched to Japanese. He could watch the two interact all day and being a spectator wouldn’t bore him at all. Sasuke’s reactions to Itachi’s teasing were extremely entertaining. Itachi could get intimidating when the roles were reversed, but it was still interesting enough. Enough to keep him distracted.

“Do you guys have any plans for the holidays, by the way?” he asked.

“Nothing special, I guess,” Sasuke mused. He was eating slowly, or maybe it was Naruto who ate too fast. “Why?”

“I was just wondering if you celebrate Christmas. Or New Year’s.”

Itachi’s long fingers were lightly tapping the surface of the table. “We used to celebrate New Year’s when our mother was alive.”

Sasuke nodded. “We didn’t throw a huge party or anything, but my uncle visited from Japan. It’s just Itachi and me now. Father’s usually away on a business trip around that time.”

“Can’t he take a single day off, for crying out loud? Jesus. I don’t understand adults.” He sniffled. “No offense, Itachi.”

“None taken.”

“I’m used to it, really.” He swirled his spoon in the bowl for a while. “It felt like a nuisance when Itachi cooked something special to carry on the family tradition. I thought it was useless. He even put on a movie and decorated a tree – and had me decorating along with him. But I started to appreciate it the older I got.”

Itachi winked at Naruto. “He’s really talented at decorating trees. Not so talented at choosing an appropriate Christmas movie.”

Laughing, Naruto took another piece of tempura. “You should send me a picture when you put the tree out. What about your uncle though? He won’t visit anymore?”

“No,” Sasuke shook his head. “Not around this time of the year. Uncle Madara is one of my rare relatives that I like.”

Itachi gave a hum of agreement.

“He’s passionate and always has tons of stories to tell. A wise man.”

“Indeed. Uncle Madara has a soft heart, but he’s toughened up over the years. Happens to the best of us.”

“He went through a lot,” Sasuke elucidated.

“I’m sure he’d like Naruto if you’d met.”

Naruto smiled in appreciation. “I hope I meet him someday.”

Leaning back, Sasuke went quiet.

“We’ll let you know if he shows. Speaking of relatives, there’s cousin Shisui. He was the one who came over last year. One of my closest friends,” Itachi said. “But we don’t get to meet more than once or at most twice a year.”

By that time, Naruto was full. He sipped at his water. “That sucks. I can’t imagine being that far away from my close friends. He’s, like, on the other side of the world.”

“In a way, it’s for the best that we’re here. Of course, I’m not saying this for Shisui. But we don’t get along with everyone.”

“Really?”

“Mixing business with family or friends usually ends up with a cycle of jealousy and revenge. I don’t want to get too much into it, but basically not everyone’s happy with my father handling the branch here, and it naturally affects us.”

“I see.” From the corner of his eye, he checked on Sasuke. He was watching the tablecloth. “Why don’t you guys go visit your uncle and cousin?”

“You know it gets busy around this time of the year, and Sasuke has school, just like you. We visit sometimes in the summer, with father.”

“Ugh.” The revulsion radiating from Sasuke was nearly palpable. “Summer in Japan is the worst.”

“It’s not the best season, I admit.”

“Either way you get to see them somehow. I envy that, y’know? I mean, I guess it’s another cultural thing to be in touch with family, but it’s nice.”

Itachi was intrigued. “You’re not in touch with your relatives?”

“Nah. We’re not close at all. My aunt lives nearby. Karin’s mother. She’s great, but we don’t get to see each other much because of her schedule. Other than her I have my grandpa, and that’s about it. Though he’s pretty much a nomad.”

“What’s he like?”

“Let’s see,” Naruto hummed, rubbing his hands on his arms. “He’s actually quite the opposite of what Dad was like. Sort of… crazy? He wouldn’t even mind me saying that, because it’s true. But he’s also super wise. Just like your uncle.”

The corner of Itachi’s eyes creased as he chuckled. “I can’t say I was able to imagine him from that, but I trust you.”

Sasuke had barely talked in a while. He gently stood up, grabbing two plates to carry to the kitchen. “Thanks for the meal.”

“Yeah, thank you. To you both. I really enjoyed it,” Naruto said, also getting up. “Let me help you with that, Sasuke.”

Although Sasuke told him to sit down and make himself comfortable, Naruto helped them clear the table and put the dishes in the washer. Sitting like a guest didn’t feel right to him, plus, he wanted to keep the banter going.

Half an hour later, they were sitting again, this time in the seating set. Naruto had informed Itachi a bit more about his personal life, about his mother, and sloppily about his conversation with Iruka, because he thought Itachi might have helpful ideas about it.

Every now and then, Sasuke grew away from the conversation. He was on his phone every couple of minutes, made them tea when Itachi told him to put it down and went to the kitchen to check on the dishwasher _twice_. Since when dishwashers needed to be regularly checked on when they were running? Sasuke sucked at finding a good excuse.

Itachi’s presence really helped with the awkwardness that could arise any second, but it was bound to happen. It was a time bomb, ticking and ticking, waiting for its chance to detonate. Sasuke’s face gave nothing away, but as time passed, Naruto became sure that his actions surely did. He was just as restless to be in the position. And if Naruto read it right – he was pretty sure he did – the way he conversed with Itachi so nonchalantly aggravated Sasuke even further.

The reason why Sasuke had invited him. Naruto knew Sasuke, he wouldn’t do it just because Itachi asked him to. Or to be polite. So, he wanted Naruto here, but his actions said otherwise. Naruto felt horrible because Sasuke was in that situation. His own discomfort was subdued greatly, thanks to Itachi, but he realized one’s cure could be one’s poison. They really needed to talk it out with Sasuke and make the weirdness vanish _somehow_.

The phone on the coffee table started to vibrate, distracting Naruto entirely from the story Itachi was telling.

Itachi hunched forward to check the caller ID. His face fell as he snatched it. “I gotta take this. Sorry, it might take a while.”

“No worries, I’m not going anywhere without saying goodbye.”

Itachi left the room, and the door to the kitchen was closed. Inevitable silence fell once again. Naruto was painfully aware of even the whoosh coming out with his breathing pattern, and the gulp when he swallowed.

“Do you want to see my room? There’s nothing to do here.”

“Sure.” He shrugged his shoulders and rose from his spot. It would certainly be more interesting to see what Sasuke’s room was like than sit there and watch the floorboards until Itachi returned.


	12. Believe in me, don't be leaving me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the sweet comments left in the previous chapter <3 This is one of those chapters I had to rewrite a couple of times but I'm really happy with this last version I ended up with. I hope you guys like it too! >.<

Inside Sasuke’s room was the polar opposite of Naruto’s. It wasn’t like anything about Sasuke suggested he was a sloppy type, with dirty napkins all over his floor and laundry piled up in a corner. But the distinction between his own room and Sasuke’s was enormous. There was not a thing out of place: the closet door was shut, and the mirror attached to it had no visible fingerprints or dust on it. There were no curtains, just blinds, and they were evenly drawn. The bed was made, the carpets were clean. It was like Sasuke was allergic to disarray. Naruto understood it was a preference of lifestyle, and that’s why rather than how uncluttered it was, the lack of character in the room was what resulted in quite a disappointment.

It was mostly because Naruto believed in learning brand new things about people by seeing their belongings. He liked having his possessions scattered all around in his room for that reason – maybe he went a little over the top, but anyone would be able to say that he was the one who resided there. It reflected his personality. Sasuke, on the contrary, had so very few objects visible out in the open. Having seen Deidara’s room, who was also an artist, Naruto had anticipated seeing at least a few brushes laying around. Accidental paints on the desk that weren’t cleaned on time. Or maybe some posters of his favorite bands hung up on the wall. But it was a plain and average teenager’s room, to a point that it was dull.

“You don’t seem much happy,” Sasuke analyzed his lack of speech and the discontented glances he kept throwing around.

Naruto spared him a look, but didn’t object. He walked around for a bit, though there wasn’t much to hold sight of. “Are you sure this isn’t the guest room?”

“Pretty sure.”

“Guess I expected to see a bit more. It’s not very personalized, is it?”

“My mother’s sense of decoration must have rubbed off on me.”

A desk was adjacent to the wall with the window, and held some coconut-scented candles and ornaments along with a laptop, but nothing more. There were surely things in its drawers is what Naruto thought, and he couldn’t help but wonder what sorts of things Sasuke owned. Maybe he had a penny collection or hung onto the cartons of his cigarettes. Naruto stroked a shelf of the bookcase near the door with his fingertips, eyeing the titles of books and magazines. Nothing he was especially fond of. There were some world classics, books about art, and scientific magazines. Much to his dismay, no comic books. “It’s pristine. My room’s a mess.”

“I had a hunch that it is.”

Soon there was nothing else to pay attention to, and though it was a blessing for the short attention span of his, Naruto was left yearning for more. This was like a stranger’s room. Nothing about it felt familiar, or told him a story about Sasuke. He wished there were crayon stains on the wall from when Sasuke was a kid, or glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling. It appeared that all evidence of the past was long gone.

He ended his little tour by whipping around and plopping down onto the bed, hands gliding over the cold duvet cover. “Why don’t you put some of your art stuff up on the wall? It would make the room look more lively.”

Sasuke at last left the spot from where he had shut the door and watched with a hand still on the doorknob. “It’s not a bad idea. But I don’t know how I’d feel staring at my artwork every time I opened my eyes.”

“Something else then. This room lacks spirit.”

Instead of the bed, Sasuke chose to sit in his desk chair, turning it around so he could face Naruto. Their eyes locked for a moment, which resulted in Naruto averting them in favor of studying the patterns on the pillows. Just like downstairs, an awkward aura was settling in between them.

It appeared that he wasn’t the only one getting affected by it. “I don’t mind it the way it is.”

“Yeah. It’s fine. If you like it, then it’s perfect.” He was still desperately searching for a hint of  _ Sasuke _ around the room. “I just feel a little alienated is all. But what matters most is the memories I make here, yeah? I felt kind of shy when I first sat in your living room as well. But now that it was my second time there it felt much warmer. Am I making any sense?”

“The way your brain works is peculiar,” Sasuke laughed as he crossed his legs, hands interlocking on his knee. That way he resembled a therapist - he just lacked a fancy blazer and thick-rimmed glasses.

Naruto shrugged. “I’m just saying what I’m feeling.”

Sasuke opened the first drawer and grabbed for a pen, distractedly spinning it in his hand. Naruto wouldn’t have known it was a nervous habit in disguise if he didn’t do similar things himself. He stared at Sasuke, willing him to take the initiative about what needed to be talked about, but there was no reaction. “Wow, okay. Are we going to talk about it or not?”

It might be his imagination, but he thought he saw a tremor in Sasuke’s hands. “We should.” He uncapped the pen and touched the tip to the back of his hand, releasing a satisfied hum upon seeing it still worked. He was only diverting his anxiety. Naruto could read it so openly.

“I’m not mad. Or upset. I don’t know what you’re thinkin’ at all, but I thought you should know.”

Leaning back, Sasuke put the pen down. He took a moment like he tried to figure out what to do with his hands instead, then he positioned them on the arms of the chair. “I should apologize for causing this. Just when everything was back to normal, I spoiled it. I made talking to me uncomfortable for you.”

It wasn’t untrue, but the reason why Naruto felt uncomfortable was possibly different from what Sasuke thought. “I’m just trying to wrap my head around why you tried to kiss me. Spur of the moment thing?”

“No.” Head bowed, Sasuke was massaging his temples and forehead now. “I’ve thought and prepared what I wanted to say to get through this. But I can’t remember a word of it.”

Naruto brought his legs up, crossing them. “You don’t have to diagram perfect sentences, Sasuke. I’ll understand either way.”

Sasuke’s mouth was a straight line before he spoke. “I… have feelings for you.”

“For me?” Truthfully, he had known that was a possibility. But in his mind, that was a long shot. Why would a guy like Sasuke like a guy like Naruto? “Are you sure?”

Sharply, Sasuke glared at Naruto. “I know what I feel.”

“That’s not what I meant. Fuck, sorry.” He gently rubbed his left wrist. “Should I leave?”

“If that’s what you want. But I’d rather you stay.”

“Me too.”

What were Sasuke’s feelings like, he wondered. If they were similar to the way Naruto used to feel about Sakura, it was really flattering. But it still didn’t help him understand; he was all over the place while Sasuke had his shit together. Sasuke was the popular guy. All he had to do to get what he wanted was to say the word. There were girls who would wait in line just to touch him (he could imagine their disappointed faces if they’d found out about his sexual orientation). He was Sasuke Uchiha, the younger brother of Itachi Uchiha, the popular, smart kid. But here he was, telling Naruto he had feelings for him. It felt too unreal that he went ahead and pinched himself to see if it was a dream, but it only earned him a confused stare and didn’t help with the situation at all.

“I didn’t think you’d actually say that,” he dimly admitted with a tilted head. “I don’t know how to react. It’s the first time someone’s telling me they like me.”

Sasuke twisted his nose. “There’s no way that’s possible.”

“I’m not joking. I’ve received two or three love letters from girls I didn’t know. But never a direct confession. And much less from a guy.”

“Is it bothering you?”

“Not in the slightest. I’m just puzzled, Sasuke. What do I do now?”

“Are you asking me?”

He swallowed. “Just thought maybe you’d know. Do you want to go out with me?” It wasn’t an invitation, only a question.

Sasuke didn’t seem overjoyed. “There’s no point in answering such a question. I’m keeping my expectations on the realistic side, so you don’t need to worry about anything. I just thought you should know because I got carried away there, but it won’t happen again.”

Naruto rested his chin in his palm. So it wouldn’t happen again. Was he a terrible person for kind of… wanting it to? It wasn’t a rush of blood to the head: he wanted to be subjected to the anticipation, the thrill of having Sasuke so near. If he had a brief chance at understanding what that was, he would take it. But that would be incredibly selfish of him. Sasuke’s feelings were not something for him to experiment on. It wasn’t a trial and error type of situation. But he had to somehow discover what made Sasuke unique from his other friends that he could only feel this way with him.

He felt a little loopy from having so many thoughts running in his head. “Would I be asking for too much if I said I wanted to know what you feel about me?”

“Yes,” Sasuke hissed. Not only displeased, but he was starting to get angry. “Why’re you asking, hm? Because you want a – a pat on the back? It’s not like I can control what I feel.”

“That’s not what this is about!” Naruto’s pitch was getting higher as well.

“Then what? One would think you never had feelings for a person in your life.”

Naruto was ready to fight back, but instead, he hugged his knees tightly to find some sort of solace. “I’ve thought about my feelings for Sakura, through and through. And… I’m not sure I feel what I think I feel. At least what I used to think. But realizing this also had me feelin’ sort of empty. Isolated. Honestly, I’ve started to feel like I don’t know what love is anymore.”

Sasuke’s brows were still too furrowed for Naruto’s liking, but he seemed to have cooled down. “Is that really you talking, Mister  _ Master-of-feelings _ ?”

“I’m only seventeen, dammit,” Naruto defensively said. “My wisdom has a limit.”

“A really low one at that.”

“You’re no guru either.”

“At least I possess the self-awareness to tell if I like someone or not.”

Naruto only rolled his eyes, burying his nose into the crook of his arm.

“Are you cold?”

Either Sasuke was exceptionally attentive, or Naruto was too dumb to realize he had started to rock back and forth, with arms rubbing himself. “Yeah. A bit.”

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

“Well,” Naruto spoke into his sleeve, “we had more important matters to talk about.”

He watched with hazy eyes as Sasuke got up to his closet. When the door opened, Naruto could see everything was organized neatly, just as he’d thought. Among the hung clothing, Sasuke fumbled a bit. What he eventually pulled out was a bright red, zip-up hoodie that Naruto had never seen on Sasuke before. He seemed hesitant at first with his choice, but handed it over to Naruto after a slight pause. “Try this on.”

Naruto couldn’t help but breathe in as he threw it on over his sweater. “It smells like you.”

Sasuke gave it a look. “I wore it only once. A gift from my uncle, but red’s not my color. Apparently teenagers in Japan like lively colors.”

“It does smell like you though.” Naruto felt awkward saying it twice out loud. It wasn’t his fault he was sensitive toward smells, but he didn’t have to vocalize it so often, probably.

“Must be the laundry detergent.” He assessed it on Naruto. “It’s a good look on you. Feeling better?”

The inner surface of the hoodie was made out of thick, wool-like material, and it was definitely helping. “Yeah. I don’t know why I’m cold.”

But he did. He recognized the sensation that grew within whenever he was under heavy emotional distress. It messed with his body temperature, so much that it made him wear a coat on humid summer nights and still tremble. He remembered feeling it when he was waiting after Minato was hospitalized, and on nights he came back from school when he was younger, ostracized, and mocked. It was just his body’s way of dealing with anxiety.

They both settled back on the bed. Naruto felt more at ease and less like an intruder now that Sasuke was sitting there with him. Would it be considered rude, he didn’t know, but he gently let himself fall onto the mattress. His eyelids closed on their account, disturbed by the ceiling light falling directly onto them.

He felt the weight of Sasuke shifting. “I catch myself wanting to spend more time with you.”

“You do?”

“I’m answering your question, and you’ll hear these coming out of my mouth only this once so listen.”

Cracking an eye open for a second, Naruto faintly smiled. “I’m all ears.”

“I thought you were only a loud-mouthed idiot at first. I saw you around all the time with your friends, talking unreasonably loud. It ticked me off. When you invited me to join you and Sai in Japanese, I wasn’t sure why you did it, but it made me feel… content, for some reason. Sai knew me and he didn’t say a word.”

“Don’t worry, I’m training him on that.” Naruto’s voice came out like a cat’s murmur from the warmth enveloping him. Then there was Sasuke’s scent, and his voice. He was starting to unwind and fill with a sense of unfamiliar tranquility.

“Then all of a sudden you were making conversation with me. I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting that. You make friends with anyone and everyone at the end of the day.”

“You’re not just  _ anyone _ .”

Sasuke sharply breathed out. “Back then I was. And it didn’t stop you. I thought you would eventually go away, so I put on an uncaring face. But you only kept coming back.”

“I did, didn’t I?”

“Why did you?”

He rolled onto his side and went back to enfolding his knees, blinking a few times. Sasuke was slightly hunched backward with hands supporting him on either side. Naruto could see the black ink he’d smeared earlier in contrast with the pale skin of Sasuke’s hand. There was an impulse within to trace a finger over, but his rational mind decided against it.

“I don’t know why,” he breathed out. “Do I need to have an excuse? I wanted to talk to you. Whenever I saw you there, I wanted to say hi. Ask how your day was.”

There was a long pause. Longer than what was considered normal.

Naruto tilted his head to look up. “Well?”

Sasuke wasn’t returning the gaze. His eyes were seeing straight ahead, but Naruto wasn’t sure they were looking. He didn’t think he was being blatantly ignored; it was more like Sasuke was scrambling to find something within himself. Weighing up Naruto’s words and what they stood for.

“I shouldn’t have let things come this far. I thought I could suppress my feelings but I only ended up hurting you with my lack of foresight.”

“It’s okay, Sasuke—”

Sasuke cut him off. “It’s not okay. I’ll do it again. Not in the same way, maybe.” He threw his head back. “It’s not fair.” His voice came out velvety. Earnest. Not directed particularly toward anyone, like he was doing a midnight prayer away from other creatures. But the clear grievance tucked in somewhere was making Naruto’s blood boil.

His tone was getting scratchier. “It’s not for you to decide alone, y’know. You don’t have to shoulder everything on your own. I have thick skin, I can take it. We’ve had conflicts before and they all turned out just fine.”

“It’s not the same.”

“So what? We’ll figure it out. You’re sharp as heck, you’ll find a way.”

“I doubt that.”

Embarrassingly, his eyes were welling up. It took a considerable effort to keep his voice from quivering. “You’re just going to deny me, then? Act like we were never acquainted – is that what you’re sayin’?” He dreadfully hoped for Sasuke to interfere with a word of denial, but it did not happen. “I don’t understand you at all.”

Sasuke was breathing shallowly, but it was still audible to Naruto’s ears. Unexpectedly, he plopped down against the bed on his back. “It hurts. You talk to your friends with a huge smile on your face. You talk to my friends like you know them for years. You talk to Itachi like he’s your brother. And I feel like an insignificant face in the crowd.”

“It’s funny you say that, ‘cause the same goes for me. Like you’ve said, all I am is just a loud-mouthed idiot. I’m not witty like you. I’m not particularly talented in anything. No matter how you look at it I’m ordinary as hell. But you’re the type of guy who’d get anything he wanted.”

“Is that what you think of me?”

Naruto dried up his dampened eyes with the sleeve of Sasuke’s hoodie. “That, and more. You’re kind, though you did seem like an asshole at first. But I’ve got you figured out now. You’re just a little grouchy, but you’ve got a good heart.”

Sasuke scoffed. “Be still my heart.”

“I’m not done yet.” Unbeknownst to the other, he watched Sasuke’s hair, dark and spiky. He wondered what brand of shampoo and hair products Sasuke used. Some tresses fell onto his forehead, covering the smooth skin. His eyebrows were often knitted – when he was thinking, when he was worked up. They had a really nice shape. Naruto always admired the shape of Sasuke’s eyes, and the eyelashes quivered ever so slightly whenever Sasuke blinked; they were especially long, at least compared to his own, though his lashes were blond and unnoticeable so he wouldn’t know. His cheeks were unmarred, and his chin was also clean, most likely freshly shaven. His observations felt foreign because he didn’t recall ever noting so many specifics about Kiba’s face.

“Are you going to carry on?”

There it was again, the beating of his heart. He didn’t need a mirror to know how red his cheeks were. He propped himself up with a hand on the bed, on his knees. His attention drawn, Sasuke’s eyes suspiciously followed Naruto as the blond placed his other hand across the bed, now hovering right over Sasuke.

“It doesn’t make sense,” he grumbled. “I don’t get it at all.”

“ _ Naruto _ .” Sasuke sounded alarmed, but he didn’t make a move.

He drew his face close to Sasuke’s and there it was again: mind going foggy against his consent, and all he thought about was the desire to get closer, if he could think at all. He wanted to run a hand through Sasuke’s hair and trace his skin. “You closed up on me like this.”

_ Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke. _

All of a sudden, Sasuke’s hand tightly closed around the wrist aligned with his head. “And you pushed me away.” It was a mumble, but Naruto couldn’t hear it any louder.

“ _ I did _ .” Their foreheads touched. “Why am I regretting it now then?”

He understood Sasuke wouldn’t make a move. Not after being rejected like that. Now that he had come this far, Naruto knew there was no going back. Ever so slowly, he leaned down until he could remove the gap between their lips. Tentative and experimental it was as he pressed his lips against Sasuke’s with everything he had. Willing his sentiments to be conveyed through the kiss, even though he was clumsy at putting them into words.

It was nothing like he had ever experienced before. Sasuke’s lips were soft beneath his own, and under his own body, he felt Sasuke’s heart beating. Fast. It only tickled him further, touching a secret string in his heart that had never been touched before. It was troubling him, charming him, egging him to do more and more as something kindled all the way through his entire body and blended into Sasuke’s. He wasn’t the only one feeling it, he knew from the way Sasuke returned the kiss with equal passion.

When he pulled back, he was certain Sasuke could hear his heart thumping rapidly in his chest. It sounded so loud to his own ears. He was very nearly convinced that discarding words completely and kissing until there was nothing more to be said was a good idea. “…I never imagined I’d have my first kiss with a male.”

Sasuke’s eyes were darting back and forth between his eyes and lips. “That was your first time?”

“Yeah.”

Sasuke reached up with his idle hand, clamping it over Naruto’s cheek. Unlike Naruto’s own cold, sweaty hands, it was warm and comforting. Tears pooled in Naruto’s eyes once more, yet he shut them tight, refusing to let the drops spill. It was unclear to him why he felt so sentimental. So weak.

“What did you mean by it?”

The question caught Naruto off guard. So Sasuke expected a proper explanation – it made total sense. He deserved one. But Naruto wasn’t set for it.

One second later, the hand on his face was vulgarly pushing him away. As Naruto lost his balance and fell down on his butt, luckily on the bed, it was hard not to catch sight of the grimace on Sasuke’s face. “Why’d you do that for?!”

“You’re hopeless.”

“And you’re a jerk, did you know that?” He was only trying to figure out what was going on, for fuck’s sake. Why was Sasuke being so prissy about a kiss, Naruto could not make sense of. Especially since he was the one who’d instigated the whole thing in the first place.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”

By then Sasuke should have picked up that Naruto wasn’t the one to give up without a fight. Making sure he had a good balance this time, he tackled Sasuke before he had a chance to get up and put on the bravest face he could muster.

Sasuke was giving him a stern look, but didn’t make a physical attempt just yet. “Naruto. Get off me.”

“No.”

“I mean it. Get off.”

Instead of doing that, Naruto drew in for a second time. If he had to admit, it wasn’t a wholly clean-handed action this time, but he intended no harm either. It was more of a challenge; an unknown impulse taking over him to see how Sasuke would fight back, or if he would at all.

God, he wanted him to. “Make me.”

Wrestling was not Naruto’s forte, and he wished he’d done more research on how to properly grapple as Sasuke’s sturdy clench landed over his shoulders and successfully reversed their positions. Compared to Konohamaru, Sasuke was much thornier of a rival. Nonetheless, Naruto had strong arms, and he was resilient. 

He tried to throw a punch, but Sasuke dodged it. On top of it, he shifted the stance of his hands to Naruto’s wrists to prevent any further attacks, and he took it a step further by securing Naruto’s upper body on the ground with his legs on both sides, straddling him.

Well, his legs were still free, and headbutting was always an option.

“Whatever it is you’re thinking, don’t. I took self-defense classes. You don’t stand a chance.”

Naruto struggled out of Sasuke’s grip, but Sasuke was holding him down. “Let go, then.”

“So you attack me again? I don’t think so.”

“Bullshit. You’re enjoying this, aren’t you. You didn’t throw a single punch.”

“I’m not the one who’s hysterically assaulting someone here.” He was staring down at Naruto. “What is wrong with you?”

He tried changing the position of his legs to see if he could kick, but it was a futile fight. His attempt at headbutting was also cut off. Under Sasuke’s piercing gaze, he lied there, hopelessly out of breath and fuming with the desire to knock some sense into Sasuke. “You want me out of your life? Fine. But I’m not going down without a fight. Let go of me so I can charge properly once more.”

“You think I _want_ _to_ kick you out? You think it’s easy for me?” The energy radiating from Sasuke was turning into something threatening as his grip on Naruto’s wrists tightened. “I’m doing this for _your_ sake. I will beat you without any hesitation if you keep leading me on like that.”

“Leading you on—what?” Naruto cried, struggling to break free still. “You’re the one who got me all confused! Now I’m the one guilty one here? Fuck you.” He managed to get one of his hands liberated, but rather than throwing a punch with it, he tried to push Sasuke off.

“Confused, my ass,” Sasuke snarled dramatically. “It’s so straightforward that even a moron like you should be able to grasp: you either like someone or you don’t. There’s no in-between. Unless you have the inclination to kiss everyone who shows interest.”

“ _ How dare you _ ,” he hissed. “You don’t have a fucking clue about what I’ve been going through. You were suffering? Great. I was suffering, too. I lost my fucking head trying to understand why having you so close to me got me more excited than any other thing. I beat up my friend for nothing, just because having that one moment with you made me question myself beyond anything. But go on, accuse me of leading you on!”

He was so exasperated he wanted to bawl his eyes out. Then he wanted to punch the life out of Sasuke before holding him tight and talking to him about stupid things that were of no importance before they kissed some more. 

Sasuke was off of him a moment later. He levered himself up and to his feet, then extended a hand forward to Naruto, pulling him up when Naruto warily took it. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

Naruto adjusted the sweatshirt he had on, which was muddled from all the rolling around they had done on the bed. He gnawed on his lower lip before speaking. “I’d never do something deliberately to harm you. I need you to have faith in that.”

“I know,” Sasuke replied, looking Naruto dead in the eye. “I trust you.”

He wasn’t just saying it. He meant it, Naruto could tell.

“You look like a depressed puppy.”

It made Naruto want to smile, but he couldn’t find the bravery within himself. He looked away as he wiped his eyes again. “It’s not like you’re the only person who’s permitted to look miserable.”

Instead of countering, Sasuke took a step toward Naruto, then pulled him into a cautious, yet absurdly gentle embrace. “This is what friends do, right?”

Naruto was stunned. He wasted no time wrapping his own arms around Sasuke, but his squeeze was much stronger. “You learn faster than Sai.”

“That’s good to hear. But get snot on my shirt and I’ll kill you.”

He only hugged tighter, burying his nose in Sasuke’s shoulder. “Mhm.”

When they pulled back, he wasn’t feeling so gloomy anymore. Sasuke looked reasonably okay as well, the perpetually wrinkled section of the skin between his brows that Naruto sometimes wanted to poke at was not looking as bad now.

“Are we good now?” He asked. “I need some time to think about… all that. But I don’t want things to be awkward between us.”

Sasuke dipped his head low, letting out a quiet breath as he smiled indistinctly. “I understand.” With that, he gestured to Naruto in the direction of the door. “We should head downstairs. Itachi must be lonely.”

Naruto let out a burst of small, hearty laughter as he followed Sasuke out. “Yeah. He must be bored out of his mind without his little brother to tease.”

* * *

There was no one in the living room when they made it there. The kitchen door was open without a sign of Itachi, but the mystery was solved soon as the man hurried down the stairs in his outdoor attire.

“Is it him again?” asked Sasuke. He sounded like he had an idea about where his brother was heading to.

Itachi nodded as he yanked his ponytail out of the dark black coat he had on. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m just going to check on them.”

Completely left out, Naruto scratched at his hair. “Something wrong?”

“Should I tell him?” It was Sasuke.

Itachi briefly looked at Naruto. He knew that look – he’d seen it on Itachi hundreds of times before when the man was concentrating. He was being sized up, for sure. “Can you keep a secret, Naruto?”

“He can.” It was Sasuke.

That made Naruto want to shriek like a little girl, so much that he had to bury his fingernails into his palms to stop himself from doing it. Itachi seemed to deem Sasuke’s judgement enough, though he did toss him an amused look. “Alright. Naruto, thank you for coming. It’s a pleasure having you over.”

“Nah, thanks for having me. Heh, I might drop by every now and then now that I’ve found out about your secret cooking abilities,” he joked.

“No objections on my part.”

Sasuke had his arms folded. “Next time, I’m doing the cooking.”

“Please do!”

Itachi was smiling with his eyes as he looked at the two boys. “You two behave while I’m gone.”

Not to be left behind, Naruto was following Sasuke as he walked Itachi out to the house-to-garage door. “Let me know if there’s something I can do.”

After they heard Itachi’s car pull away from the garage, it was only Naruto and Sasuke in the house. “Well,” Sasuke took a deep breath. “Want a beer?”

“Sure.”

They walked over to the kitchen, and Naruto flopped into a chair as Sasuke grabbed two cans from the refrigerator. “What’s up with Itachi? What’s goin’ on?”

“It’s Kakashi,” Sasuke said, placing the beer on the table. “I wish we’d put them in the freezer first. I like my drinks extra cold.”

“You’ll get a sore throat if you do that. We’re in December.” He opened the cans while Sasuke took a seat. “What’s wrong with Kakashi?” His smile died all of a sudden. “Is he ill?”

“No, no. It’s not him.” Sasuke started toying with the ring pull. “He has a friend who’s terminally ill. I don’t know the details much, but he’s been like that for years.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Yeah. Kakashi’s always busy with his care, taking him to the hospital. Did you know that he’s apparently a mathematical genius or something, and he’s been invited to take part in so many projects? But he’s had to reject them all because he couldn’t move from here. He couldn’t leave his friend.”

Naruto was stupefied. “That’s some serious dedication.”

“Tell me about it. And Itachi’s loyal to Kakashi. He was Itachi’s teacher as well, back when Itachi was in high school.”

“I didn’t know that!”

“Yeah,” Sasuke chuckled. “They get along just fine. I’m not happy Itachi has to substitute a lot for the guy when he’s busy himself, but it’s not like he ever listens. We all have different priorities, I guess.”

He took a few sips from his beer. “They’re all lucky. Kakashi’s friend, because he has Kakashi. Kakashi, because he has Itachi. And Itachi, because he has you.”

“Me?” Sasuke raised a brow.

Naruto said vigorously, “Yup.”

“It’s not the same. Kakashi could’ve had a whole different life if he’d chosen to leave. I’m amazed by how much people can sacrifice for each other.”

“But he didn’t. And I’m glad he didn’t. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone so dear to your heart that you’d sacrifice everything for them?”

Sasuke didn’t sound as into the idea. “I don’t know. Sounds like a hassle.”

“Well, it’s not like you’d  _ decide _ to feel the urge to help them.” He hummed a few random notes as he mused. “I’d like that. Loving someone enough to sacrifice your life for them without giving it a second thought. If I have something remotely similar to that one day, I’d be the happiest man on earth.”

For a while, Sasuke drank in silence. “I guess it wouldn’t be half bad.”

“Not in the slightest. I think it would make everything less vapid.” He hiccuped. “So, Kakashi, huh. I thought he’s just a lazy bum, I never knew there was a whole different story behind that.”

“Oh, but he is one. Only one with a charitable soul.”

Naruto doubled over as he laughed, spilling some beer as he did so. Sasuke got him a napkin to wipe his mouth with. “Thanks. Jesus, I don’t know why I laughed so hard at that.”

“It’s a better sight than you pouting,” he remarked.

“You won’t say that when I spill beer all over the floor. Oh, will I get to meet your dad?” He asked. “Do you know when he’s comin’ home?”

Sasuke checked the time from the clock on the wall. “Not for at least another two hours.”

“I should head back before that. It’s a bummer.”

“It’s fine. You won’t miss much.” Sasuke snatched their beers as he walked away from his chair. “Come on. We can watch  _ Crazy Rich Asians _ if you’re so eager to see old, Asian men.”

Naruto flicked off the light switch behind Sasuke as they left the kitchen. “I think I’ll skip it.”


End file.
